KATHMANDU, Nov 2 -

The top leaders of the major parties are busy holding discussions as part of the last-ditch efforts to reach an agreement to avoid voting in parliament over the Maoist motions for the declaration of a republic through the House and adoption of a fully Proportional Representation (PR) based electoral system for the Constituent Assembly (CA) elections.

The top leaders of the Nepali Congress, CPN-UML and CPN-Maoist are holding consultations at the Maoist Parliamentary office in Singha Durbar. NC Standing Committee president Sushil Koirala, NC Vice President Ram Chandra Poudel and Home Minister Krishna Prasad Sitaula, Maoist Chairman Prachanda, senior leaders Babu Ram Bhattarai and Krishna Bahadur Mahara, and UML leaders Bam Dev Gautam, Jhal Nath Khanal and Amrit Kumar Bohara, among others, are present in the meeting.

The NC is stressing on the declaration of a republic through parliament but implementation of the declaration only through the first meeting of the elected CA, in an attempt to avert a possible split among the parties over the issue of republic.

However, the Maoists are stressing on the implementation of the republic declaration ahead of the CA elections, sources said.

If the leaders are unable to make headway, the Maoist motions will be put to a vote.

As the UML has agreed to go for a republic, it is trying to convince the NC for the same, UML leader Amrit Kumar Bohara said.

Likewise, the leftist parties held separate consultations so as to get a majority in support of the Maoist motions.

The Maoists and UML leaders held discussions at the UML parliamentary party office today. The leftists intensified their separate consultations after the agenda of republic and PR is likely to get dismissed due to the lack of support from the NC.

Likewise, the Maoist, CPN-UML and Jana Morcha Nepal also held a meeting at the Jana Morcha parliamentary party office. The meetings were focused on convincing the leftist parties to vote in favour of the Maoist demands.

UML General Secretary Madhav Kumar Nepal held talks with Jan Morcha President Amik Sherchan and Unity Centre Mashal General Secretary Narayan Kaji Shrestha.