Nepal on the road to becoming a republic

New Delhi: Nepal is on road to becoming a republic.

The three-month long deadlock between Maoists and the government is finally over and the two factions have reached a 22-point agreement to declare Nepal a republic through the interim parliament, after ratification by the Constituent Assembly.

Government leaders met with Maoist chief Prachanda to break the deadlock that has dealt a blow to the 2006 pact, ending the conflict which had caused more than 13,000 deaths.

"Nepal will be a Federal Democratic Republic nation and the decision will be implemented after the first meeting of the Constituent Assembly," the six-party ruling alliance and the Maoists said in a statement.

"But if the king creates serious hurdles to the Constituent Assembly elections a two-third majority of the (interim) Parliament can remove the monarchy even before the polls," it said.

The elections for the Constituent Assembly are likely to be held in Mid-April. The deal has also allocated 60% of the 601 assembly seats to a proportional system.

Maoists had quit the government in September – demanding that Nepal be declared a republic and seeking a fully proportional electoral system.