Kathmandu, September 2

“It mandated party president Sushil Koirala to move ahead amendment proposal on the Revised Bill of the new constitution by ensuring the support of two-thirds members of the Constituent Assembly. Chief whip of the party will present the proposal as directed by the party leadership,” read a statement issued by the party’s Chief Whip Chin Kaji Shrestha after the PP meeting held at the CA building. The party would try to address the concerns of agitating people through amendment proposals after holding consultations with Madhesi and Tharu CA members of the party.

“If the constitution drafting process is stopped, it would lead to more complications. So, the process should not stop. Rather the party would make maximum attempts to address the addressable concerns through amendment proposals,” NC General Secretary Krishna Prasad Sitaula told the meeting, according to NC CA member Ganesh Kumar Mandal. The meeting decided that no CA member would register individual proposal at the CA to amend the bill, he said.

Party’s CA members suggested that the ongoing protests in Tarai districts could be controlled if the party leaders tried to address the issues as per the advice of the NC’s Madhesi and Tharu members. A majority of speakers urged the party leaders to listen to the concerns of the party’s Madhesi and Tharu members, said NC CA member Dhana Raj Gurung.

NC leader Shekhar Koirala said, “For taking the agitating parties into confidence, either the CA process should be halted or we can delay the remaining procedures,” Koirala told the PP meeting. He said provision for separate commissions on indigenous, Muslim and other backward communities could address the problems.

The CA members also demanded to form an inclusive committee to collect divergent opinions of the party’s CA members and address them in the amendment proposal.

Members of Tharu-dominant areas, including Buddhi Sagar Chaudhari of Kailali and Dilli Bahadur Chaudhari of Dang, demanded to have separate clusters of backward areas and groups. “There can be a single province of 24 districts of far-west, mid-west and Karnali and five districts from Dang to Kanchanpur could be made a separate autonomous zone. This will address the demands of both undivided far-west and of Tharus,” said Buddhi Sagar Chaudhari. Members of Rukum, Baglung and Nawalparasi demanded not to split the districts. CA members of the NC representing Tarai and Tharu-dominant areas will sit tomorrow to hold consultations about addressing the concerns of Madhesis and Tharus, according to Mandal.

Madhesi parties form alliance

KATHMANDU: Madhesi Janaadhikar Forum-Democratic, National Madhes Socialist Party and Madhesi Janaadhikar Forum-Republican on Wednesday formed a new alliance — Federal Democratic Alliance — to pressure the major parties to address the concerns of the protesting forces. Addressing a press conference here, MJF-D Chair Bijaya Kumar Gachhadar and NSMP Chair Sharat Singh Bhandari warned that if the major parties did not address the concerns of the agitating forces, the alliance would quit the constitution- making process.