Kathmandu, March 9

The United Democratic Madhesi Front will finalise tomorrow a memorandum to be submitted to the prime minister with an ultimatum to address Madhes concerns.

General Secretary of Sadbhawana Party Manish Kumar Suman said the UDMF Secretariat had prepared a draft of the memorandum that will be discussed in front’s meeting tomorrow to give the document a final shape.

Suman said the UDMF was likely to give the government till mid-April to address Madhes concerns and if the government did not do so, then the front would launch a fiercer stir.

He said the draft memorandum contained the issue of 11-point demands that the UDMF had submitted to the government, besides urging the government to provide compensation to those who were killed during the protest and to provide free treatment to the injured people.

The draft document also urges the government to control black marketing of fuel and other essential commodities, according to Suman.

Nepali Congress leader Mahesh Acharya, who is also a member of the task force formed by the three major parties, said the NC would intensify its efforts to address Madhes concerns by urging both the ruling parties and the UDMF to show flexibility so as to find a negotiated settlement.

Acharya added, “We also want to tell the UDMF that they should not make it ‘now or never’ issue.

The UDMF should also be ready to accept what all stakeholders agree on at this stage.”

Acharya said the government’s decision to form a political committee to settle the question of provincial boundaries was a unilateral move. “I had told the government that unilateral formation of such committee will only increase gulf between the government and the agitating forces,” he added.

Spokesperson for the Tarai Madhes Democratic Party Sarvendranath Shukla said the UDMF leaders were anxiously watching what the NC would do to address Madhes movement, as its general convention is over and all the results would be out tomorrow.

“Newly elected President of NC Sher Bahadur Deuba and General Secretary Shashanka Koirala have given a positive message,” he said and added that Deuba’s statement that the NC would play the role of constructive opposition and Koirala’s statement that Madhes, the source of democracy, was dissatisfied, were positive statements that could help Madhes movement.

Bishnu Rimal, political adviser to Prime Minister KP Sharma Oli, said the government had already formed a political committee but the agitating forces were not joining it. “If the agitating forces have any issues, they should come to the negotiating table first.

If they have the issue of terms of reference for the mechanism, they should discuss that on the negotiating table,” Rimal added.

He said the UDMF leaders might have been waiting for Nepali Congress’s general convention and since the convention was over, talks between the major parties and the UDMF could happen.