Over three dozen Mahasamiti members, who took part in the deliberation during the closed session that began Tuesday here in Trivenidhaam, alleged that the proposal is unclear on federalism, system of governance, Madhesh, Karnali, women, dalits and ethnic nationalities. [break]Two of those speaking in the Mahasamiti meeting also vented ire at the party´s leadership for accepting secularism.
According to CWC member Deep Kumar Upadhyaya, most of those speaking at the meeting commented on the political paper presented by Paudel. "But they mainly discussed party unity and the weaknesses of the party on various issues of contemporary politics," he told Republica.
Unlike in the past gathering of the NC, there was overwhelming participation of the Mahasamiti members throughout the closed session Tuesday. "Most of those speaking in the meeting have suggested making fair selection of the party´s candidate for fresh elections," Upadhyaya further said.
Mahasamiti members have also asked the party leadership to go for state restructuring based on common identity and economic viability. "Top leaders need to patch up before going to the election. NC cannot win majority unless the top leaders are united," said Mahasamiti member Arjun Khadka. "NC should also prepare one clear agenda before going to the people asking for their vote."
The Mahasamiti members also stressed the need for holding local elections. "Members also suggested that the party focus on its sister organizations to make the party strong from the very foundation," said CWC member Dhan Raj Gurung. The Mahasamiti members had criticized the top leadership for failing to hold general convention of the party´s sister organizations on time.
Mahasamiti members Kumar Regmi and Krishna Amatya suggested to the party´s top leadership to revisit its previous decision to go for secularism. "Hindu kingdom was the special identity of Nepal. But our party accepted secularism although this was neither mentioned in the Comprehensive Peace Accord nor in other agreements," he said.
Regmi also said that party had made a blunder by accepting secularism, which he said was purely a Maoist demand and that the Maoists have benefitted from secularism. "As secularism was solely a Maoist agenda, NC should reconsider its position on secularism," he said.
At the outset of the closed door session, Vice President Paudel had presented political paper while general secretary duo Krishna Prasad Sitaula and Prakash Man Singh jointly presented a paper on party organization. Two other proposals -- one on party´s statute amendment by General Secretary Sitaula and Financial report by Treasurer Chitra Lekha Yadav -- were also presented on the occasion. The deliberations on the reports will continue Wednesday.
In his political paper, Paudel has attempted to justify NC´s decision to agree to the idea of CJ-led election government saying that the party accepted it because the Maoists appeared unwilling to step down from the government. "We feel that this has resolved the political deadlock. Constitutional process and democracy, which had gone out of track, have come back on track," he has said in the paper.
Paudel has argued that since the country has moved toward to the path of election after the agreement it is now the responsibility of all political parties to work to ensure free and fair elections. He has said that though they had made some compromises with the parliamentary system in the past in the hope that such a posture would help bring new constitution, the party strongly believes believes in parliamentary system with executive prime minister and ceremonial president.
On federalism, Paudel has floated two options including a 13-state model with five states in Tarai-Madhes and eight in the Hill and Mountain region, and a seven-state model. The seven-state model is as follows: All districts of Mechi and Koshi zones as first state; all the Tarai-Madhes districts across the Koshi River up to Prasa district to the west as second state; all hilly and mountainous districts in Sagarmatha, Janakpur and Bagmati and Kathmandu as well as Chitwan districts as the third state; all hill districts of Lumbimi, Gandaki and Dhaulagiri as the fourth state; Nawalparasi to Bardiya district of Tarai-Madhesi region as the fifth state; hilly districts of Karnai, Bheri and Rapti zones as the sixth state; and all districts of Seti and Mahakali zones as the seventh state.
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VOX POP
´One Madhes One Province bad idea´
´One Madhesh, One Pradesh´ was once a popular slogan floated by various Madhesh-based parties. However, Nepali Congress and CPN-UML have remained averse to such a demand right from the start. Republica talked to some of the Madheshi members of the Nepali Congress Mahasamiti who have gathered at Gajendra Mokshya Divyadham in Nawalparasi for the Mahasamiti meeting that began Monday. Excerpts:
Pradip Kumar Yadav, Saptari-4, Malleth
What Madhesi parties are demanding is absolutely wrong. Madhesi people want as many states as possible in the Tarai-Madhes so that there will be more chief ministers and also more representatives in the parliament. I don´t understand whose agenda are the Madhesi parties raising. There should be at least seven federal states in Madhes based on the population in the region.
Birendra Kumar Agrahari, Nawalparasi-4,Ramgram Municipality
One Madhes, One Province is just impossible. This is against the interest of the Madhesi people. There should be at least three federal states in the Tarai-Madhes region. There should one federal state to the east of the Narayani River, another comprising Lumbini and its surrounding Tarai-Madhes districts, and the third one comprising Dang and Tulasipur areas. This arrangement will help strengthen national unity and territorial integrity.
Shree Chauhan, Nawalparasi-6, Narshahi
If possible there should be only two federal states in Madhes-- one to the east of the Narayani River and another in the Karnali region. Such delineation will also be financially economical. But if that is not possible then we should go for five-state federal model in the Tarai-Madhes. The demand of Madhesi parties to have a single Madhes state across Tarai-Madhes is simply unacceptable.
Dev Chandra Jha, Dhanusha-3, Dewadiha
New federal states should be delineated on the basis of identity and economic viability. All Madhesi people want is to have a constitution that does not discriminate against any group or ethnicity. One Madhes, One Province is just not practical. Madhesi people want as many provinces as possible in Tarai-Madhes.
Arjun Prasad Singh, Saptari-4, Banairniya VDC
I think there should be three states in Madesh and four states in the Hills. We should implement a federal model that suits best for Nepal. But the proposed seven-state model of federalism should not mix Madhes and hills together. Also, I am opposed to federalism based on single ethnic identity. Federalism should instead be based on identity and economic viability. If the seven-state federal model is not acceptable, we should go for 13-state federal model.
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