21 parties to announce Federal Democratic Alliance

KATHMANDU, Aug 10: The ruling UCPN (Maoist) and United Democratic Madhesi Front (UDMF) as well as other political parties have decided to form an alliance of pro identity-based federalist forces.



A meeting of top leaders of 21 parties held at the prime minister´s residence at Baluwatar on Thursday evening decided to announce formation of the Federal Democratic Alliance (FDA) on Sunday. [break]



"The manifesto, structure and code of conduct of the alliance will be announced following a meeting on Sunday," said leader of Madhesi People´s Rights Forum-Democratic (MPRF-D) Jitendra Dev.



General Secretary of Tarai Madhes Democratic Party-Nepal (TMDP-N) Dan Bahadur Chaudhari said the constituent parties would hold their respective internal discussions on the policies and programs of the proposed alliance before Sunday.



"The constituent parties will come up with their feedback on the policies and programs at Sunday´s meeting," added Chaudhari.



"The meeting concluded that pro-federalist forces must move ahead standing together as it is essential to institutionalize state restructuring with secularism, republicanism and federalism as per the spirit and demand of the people´s war, the Jana Aandolan, the Madhes movement and the Indigenous, Dalit, women´s and Muslim movement," reads the press note issued by the prime minister´s office after the meeting.



According to Chaudhari, the meeting stressed the need for promulgating a new constitution through the Constituent Assembly (CA) and for federalism with identity and a constitution with federalism.



"There are two options for this: either go for new CA elections or revive the CA to promulgate a new constitution after resolving the issues of federalism," he stated, adding that parliamentary elections should be conducted after that.



Explaining the need for the formation of the alliance, MPRF-D´s Dev said it was essential to form an alliance of pro identity-based federalist forces to safeguard federalism as anti-federalist forces had been assaulting it.



Chaudhari claimed that the country will find a way out of the current political impasse after the formation of the FDA. "We concluded that the anti-identity based federalist forces will be compelled to arrive at consensus as the majority of parties support identity-based federalism," he maintained.



UCPN (Maoist) Chairman Pushpa Kamal Dahal, Prime Minister Baburam Bhattarai and Deputy Prime Minister and Home Minister Bijay Kumar Gachchhadar, among other leaders, were present at the meeting.

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