Senior leaders of the United Democratic Madhesi Front (UDMF), a loose alliance of five Madhes-based parties, say they are dropping the demand for the sake of a broader consensus over constitution drafting. [break]
“We would be blamed for derailing the constitution drafting process if we stick to our one Madhes-one state stance,” said a senior Madhesi leader who declined to be named for now for fear of being dragged into controversy.
“So, we plan to compromise over our demand at the eleventh hour,” said the leader.
Madhesi leaders say that they don´t want to disclose their bottom-line for the moment as that would greatly "weaken their bargaining" position in Kathmandu´s corridors of power. Making the entire southern plains one single state has been one of the key demands of the Madhes-based parties ever since the Madhes movement in 2008.
According to sources, the regional parties of the southern plains of Nepal plan to propose two states for the region, but they are yet to decide on the names and delineation of the states.
“But it is not a big issue. We can delineate and name the states through consensus among the parties,” argued the leader.
However, the leaders also say they are wary of the “divide-and-rule strategy” of the major parties. “The major three political parties can create schisms among the Madhesi, Tharu and other marginalized communities,” said one of them.
Leaders of the Tharuhat Samyukta Sangharsha Samiti, which has an alliance with Madhes-based parties, also ruled out the possibility of one single state for the whole region.
“There will be more than one state across the region as both of the communities (Tharu and Madhesi) know very well that one single state is not possible,” said the leaders.
UDMF, Tharuhat Samyukta Sangharsha Samiti and Tharu Kalyankarini Sabha had signed a four-point agreement on July 13 to work together for the establishment of an autonomous federal state, inclusive democracy and proportional representation in state mechanisms.
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