Kathmandu, July 30

The Nepali Congress, CPN-Maoist Centre and United Democratic Madhesi Front today agreed to form a joint task force to prepare a draft of a tripartite agreement on the basis of which the UDMF could extend outside support to the new government.

This understanding was reached in a meeting between Nepali Congress President Sher Bahadur Deuba, CPN-MC Chair Pushpa Kamal Dahal and UDMF leaders today, said Nepal Sadbhawana Party Chair Anil Kumar Jha.

Jha said the NC and CPN-MC leaders also told the UDMF to become a part of the new government. According to Jha, UDMF leaders told Deuba and Dahal that they would first see a new agreement that could be signed in 72 hours and only then think whether or not to join the government.

The Nepali Congress and CPN-MC had recently reached an understanding to rotate the leadership of the government allowing Dahal to lead the government first.

According to NC leader Bimalendra Nidhi, a joint task force comprising three members from each side — the NC, CPN-MC and UDMF — will prepare a commitment paper on the basis of which the UDMF will extend support to the new government.

“The UDMF leaders have said that after a commitment paper is signed, they will support us to form a new government, but as far as the UDMF becoming part of the government is concerned, the front leaders have said they will decide later after seeing the government’s roadmap for amending the constitution to meet the front’s demands,” Nidhi said.

Rajendra Mahato, chair of Sadbhawana Party, a constituent of the UDMF said, the front rejected the NC/CPN-MC’s proposal to join the government until its demands were met.

Mahato said the UDMF wanted NC and CPN-MC to express commitment to address the front’s demands. Mahato said the UDMF could decide to extend outside support to the new government if it agreed to meet the front’s demands in a time-bound manner. A new coalition government of the NC and CPN-MC, he added, could easily address the front’s demands related to the Madhes movement such as giving martyrdom status to those killed during the protest, providing compensation to victims’ families, bearing treatment costs of the injured, probing human rights violations during the movement and waiving interest charged on public loans during the movement period. On issues of the constitution, he said, the UDMF wanted to see how the NC and CPN-MC would try to address them.

Mahato also said UDMF leaders told Deuba and Dahal that they wanted the restructuring of local bodies to be completed only after revising provincial boundaries.

According to Keshav Jha, spokesperson for National Madhes Socialist Party, a constituent of the UDMF, the front proposed Hridayesh Tripathi, Rajendra Shrestha and Kumar Lingden as representatives in the joint task force .

The NC and the CPN-MC are likely to nominate their representatives for the joint task force tomorrow.