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SPA rejects UDMF’s demand to postpone election

The ruling Seven Party Alliance (SPA) has turned down the request of the agitating United Democratic Madhesi Front (UDMF) to postpone the crucial election to Constituent Assembly (CA) by one month.

The decision not to postpone the election was made by the top leaders of the three main constituents of the ruling coalition - the Nepali Congress, CPN-UML and CPN-Maoist during a meeting held at the Prime Minister’s residence in Baluwatar on Monday.

The parties also said that the “constituent assembly election procedure and talks would be go ahead simultaneously”.

Prime Minister and president of Nepali Congress Girija Prasad Koirala, CPN-UML general secretary Madhav Kumar Nepal, CPN-Maoist chairman Prachanda and other SPA leaders were present during the meeting.

Emerging from meeting, UML general secretary Nepal said that the proposal put forth by UDMF to postpone the election was entirely unacceptable to the coalition partners. He also added that there was “serious discussion” [among the three parties] on the issues that cropped up during negotiations between the government talks team and UDMF at the same venue early today morning.

It is learnt that though the government and the UDMF were close to striking a deal today morning following discussions that started from yesterday at 9 pm and went till the wee hours of the morning, it couldn’t happen because the latter started shifting the goalpost from greater autonomy by declaring entire Madhesh as “one state” to further amendments in the interim constitution and postponing the election in a way that they would be able to take part in it.

Meanwhile, UDMF is also busy in internal discussions right now following late night talks in which the government talks team and UDMF reached a compromise on the key UDMF demand for a “One Madhes, one province” which they said would be decided through the Constituent Assembly. The talks had also seen the two sides agreeing to form autonomous Madhes state and other autonomous states.

All the top leaders of Madhesi Janadhikar Forum (MJF), Mahato faction of Sadbhavana party and Terai Madhes Loktantric Party, the two allies of the UDMF, are participating in these discussions that said to be focused on making their agitation in Terai “more organised” and the possible talks with the government today.

Minister for Peace and Reconstruction Ram Chandra Poudel told a radio station that after SPA holds a crucial discussion on UDMF’s demands then only the government talk team would initiate talks with the latter. He, however, said that the venue and the time of the talks haven’t been fixed. nepalnews.com ag Feb 25 08