Kathmandu, April 2

Bijay Kumar Gachhadar led Madhesi Janadhikar Forum-Democratic said local polls could be conducted successfully only if a revised constitution amendment bill was passed.

This was stated in a press release issued by the party here today.

The party said genuine demands raised by Tharu and indigenous nationalities during Madhes movement should be addressed to prepare conducive environment for local polls. The party also urged stakeholders to pass a revised constitution amendment bill as it had proposed.

The MJF-D said it would withdraw support to the government if the latter failed to address its demands.

The party, however, did not issue any ultimatum to the government for meeting its demands. A few days ago, MJF-D Vice Chair Ram Janam Chaudhari had told this daily that the party would serve one-week ultimatum to meet its demands, failing which it would withdraw support to the government.

The party said it followed democratic ideals, values and norms and hence it believed that all the political parties needed to utilise elections to institutionalise and strengthen democratic institutions. The party said it would, therefore, optimally utilise the upcoming local level elections. The MJF-D said the current political situation was confusing as the environment for holding local polls on May 14 had not been prepared yet. “Whether the local polls will be conducted peacefully remains doubtful mainly due to stances of the UDMF and the CPN-UML,” it said. The party said if local polls were held in province 2 in the current situation, it would not give meaningful results and it could impact other provinces as well. The party added that it was committed to its political demands and the agenda that it wanted the government to address.