Nepal statute talks fail to break ice

A crucial tripartite meet between Nepal’s ruling coalition, Opposition and the Madhesis Thursday failed to make any headway even as the agitating Indian-origin leaders asked the government to come up with a package deal to address their issues.

It were the first tripartite talks after the Madhesi leaders returned to Nepal by wrapping up their four-day visit to India for a high level political consultation.

Issues pertaining to re-demarcation of federal states, proportional and inclusive of population were the major issues touched during the discussion, according to Nepali Congress general secretary Prakash Man Singh who attended the meeting.

The meeting ended inconclusive after the Madhesis asked the government to bring a package deal to address all the issues raised by them.

In Thursday’s meeting, the Madhes-based parties agreed to allow the government table Reconstruction Authority bill.

The talks, however, failed to reach any agreement to end the border blockade as the agitating Madhesi leaders rejected the proposed Constitution Amendment bill forwarded by the previous government which was presented during the talks. Two major demands of the agitating Madhesi groups - proportionate representation and allocation of Parliament seats on the basis of population - are incorporated in the bill proposed by previous Nepali Congress-led government. They have rejected the offer made by the three major parties to resolve the dispute relating to re-demarcation of provincial boundary by forming a political committee within three months period. The meeting was held in a bid to resolve the months-long political crisis and border blockade facing Nepal following the promulgation of its new Constitution in September. Madhesis, Indian-origin inhabitants of Nepal’s Terai region, are protesting division of their ancestral homeland in the new Constitution. Nepal’s top leaders including Prime Minister K P Sharma Oli, Nepali Congress President Sushil Koirala and UCPN-Maoist chief Prachanda have decided to amend the new Constitution within the next three months to address the demands of Madhesis.