Kathmandu, May 16:

The United Nations Secretary General’s Personal Representative in Nepal, Ian Martin, said today that “November is a satisfactory target” to hold the constituent assembly elections.

“It (November) is a satisfactory target so far as the UN is concerned,” Martin said at the Tribhuvan International Airport (TIA) after his return from New York this afternoon.

He was at the UN Headquarters for the past two weeks to brief UN chief Ban Ki-moon on the

progress in Nepal’s peace process and the job done by three-month-old UN political mission here.

Martin also held consultations with officials concerned in New York about the ongoing activities of the United Nations Mission in Nepal (UNMIN).

UNMIN is mandated to monitor the management of arms and armies and assist Nepal to hold constituent assembly polls.

Martin will start consultations with the government ministers and CPN-Maoist leaders to fix dates for beginning the second stage of registration and verification of the 30,852 Maoist combatants registered initially.

The second phase of verification of the Maoists’ People’s Liberation Army (PLA) personnel has remained stalled although UNMIN was ready to begin the process.

Martin said he was worried as no progress could be made on the issue even while he remained absent since May 1.