The much awaited meeting of the seven party leaders, which was supposed to meet on Thursday to announce a date for elections, didn't take place. The prime minister couldn't attend the meting and now it may not happen till next week.

The UML's Madhab Kumar Nepal has expressed concern at the seven party's failure to sit for a meeting. He claimed that implementing the 23-point agreement would be difficult if the meeting is delayed much longer. However, he added obliquely that the election would not be affected by the delay.

Speaking to himalkhabar.com, the chairman of Janamorcha, Amik Sherchan said that the meeting would also consider the demands of indigenous janajatis and madhesis to create an environment for the elections. Since the Election Commission has asked for a 90 day notice before the polls, the government will have to set a date very soon to conduct the election in early April.

After the prime minister asked the Chief Election Commissioner on Tuesday to begin preparations for elections on Tuesday, its has started internal discussions. Commissioner, Nilkantha Upreti says, "We don't even have time to grab a cup of tea." The officers at the commission have started planning on the distribution of the election materials in all districts.

The Commission has held separate meetings with the election heads of the five developmental regions. EC spokesman Laxam Prasad Bhattarai said it was expected to go smoothly.

Since the election materials prepared for the 22 November election are useless, the commission needs to prepare new educative materials for voters. The country suffered a loss of Rs 1.5 billion due to the postponement.

The government has registered three laws related to the CA polls for amendment in the parliament. The Parliamentarian Committee is expected to discuss and pass the amendments within a few days.

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