Clear support for the UML came from the Tarai Madhes Democratic Party (TMDP) and the Sadbhawana Party (SP); the Madhesi People´s Rights Forum (MPRF) also gave a positive response to the UML´s plea for help.
The TMDP leaders, during their meeting with CPN-UML leaders, categorically vowed to support the UML-led alliance, while the SP leaders said that they had found that the UML regarded positively the joint agenda set by the United Democratic Madhesi Front (UDMF), a three-party alliance reactivated recently.
"We have clearly expressed to the CPN-UML leaders today [Monday] that we will support the UML-led democratic alliance," said TMDP´s Joint General Secretary Jitendra Prasad Sonar, a participant in the meeting. "We believe that the country should not be made a captive of indecisiveness for too long."
SP leaders said they found that the UML leaders were on the same page regarding the UDMF´s bottom-line. "We held a discussion based on the collective stance of the Front," said SP leader Ram Naresh Yadav. "We found that the UML leaders favorably viewed the implementing of the 8-point agreement that the government signed with us in February 2008."
With such clear support coming from the TMDP, the SA and two constituents in the UDMF, some MPRF leaders who still support the Maoists have come under immense pressure to rethink their ties.
JP Gupta, who is regarded as an advocate of his party´s allying with the Maoists, snubbed the meeting of the Front as well as with the UML. However, two MPRF leaders in the joint panel of the Front--Jitendra Dev and Ram Sahay Yadav--told UML leaders that their chairman, Upendra Yadav, was in favor of a UML-led coalition.
But all the three Madhesi parties, in their separate meeting, have deemed that the implementation of the 8-point agreement would be a precondition for their supporting the UML.
"We have told the UML leaders that we are in favor of a democratic alliance, but we wanted a positive response from the UML about the eight-point agreement signed by the government in february 2008," said Forum leader Dev.
"We have told them that we are ready for an open discussion on the agenda they have raised," said UML Secretary Shankar Pokharel.
The front of Madhesi parties is set to meet on Tuesday to decide whom to support. "The final decision will be taken by the top leaders of the Front tomorrow [Tuesday]" said SP leader Ram Naresh Yadav.
All-party meet on Tuesday
An all-party meeting called by Nepali Congress and the CPN-UML is convening on Tuesday to seek a political solution to the current political impasse.
"Constitutional complications, the impasse in the parliament and the formation of a new government will be discussed in the meeting," said Nepali Congress General Secretary Bimalendra Nidhi, as he emerged from a meeting with lawyers at the UML´s headquarters in Balkhu.
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