KATHMANDU, Nov 15: At a time when the major political parties are struggling to reach consensus on a proposal to amend the constitution, the agitating United Democratic Madhesi Front (UDMF) has decided to give the govenrment 15 more days to bring amendment proposal in parliament. Earlier, the front had given the govenrment till mid-November.
The UDMF leaders have been walking out of parliament since Friday to pressure the government to register amendment proposal at the earliest. The alliance of the agitating Madhes-based parties had asked the government to register the amendment proposal before Chhath festival, which was observed last week.
According to Keshav Jha, general secretary of the National Madhes Socialist Party, UDMF agreed to extend the deadline after Prime Minister Pushpa Kamal Dahal requested the alliance to give him additional time for his efforts at consensus with the coalition partners and the main opposition CPN-UML. Top leaders of the UDMF had held meeting with Prime Minister Dahal on Monday to submit a memorandum on constitution amendment.
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As per the demand of the agitating parties, Prime Minister Dahal had announced publicly that he would register the amendment proposal by mid-November. “I wanted to register the amendment proposal on yesterday itself. But as Nepali Congress President Sher Bahadur Deuba asked me to bring the proposal once the convention of his party's Tarun Dal was over. I take the extension of the deadline as positive pressure on me to make efforts toward address your grievances,” Jha quoted the prime minister as saying during the meeting.
During the meeting, the UDMF leaders had asked the prime minister to register the amendment proposal only in consensus with the agitating parties and settle the disputes surrounding demarcation through political consensus rather than through the federal commission.
However, Prime Minister Dahal had said that it would be difficult to register amendment proposal in consensus with the agitating parties as it would be rejected in parliament. “If we try to seek consensus with the agitating parties even before registering the amendment proposal it is likely that we will not be able to register any amendment proposal,” Dahal told the UDMF leaders, according to Jha.
Prime Minister Dahal also clarified that he was trying to register amendment proposal in such a way that the proposal would be supported by all parties in parliament. Two-thirds vote is a must to pass any amendment proposal in the parliament.
Dahal has lately expedited consultation with the top leaders of various political parties to address constitutional grievances of the agitating Madhesh-based parties. Sources said the government is close to consensus with other parties on almost all issues except for redrawing federal provinces as demanded by the agitating parties.
