Leaders of the United Democratic Madhesi Front (UDMF), a loose alliance of some half-a-dozen Madhes-based parties, gatecrashed the negotiationing table late in the afternoon on Friday and demanded, among others, that Prime Minister Jhalanath Khanal must step down to pave the way for national consensus and there shuld be a concrete progress on peace process.[break]
The UDMF leaders´ entry into the negotiations took the leaders of the three major parties -- UCPN (Maoist), NC and UML -- off gurad and changed the course of negotiations that was taking place mainly among them.
The UDMF leaders then held seperate bilateral negotiations with the Maoists, NC and UML and at the end they held a joint meeting with the three parties. The UDMF told the leaders of the three major parties that they might quit the CA if their concern was not addressed in the final agreement to extend the CA term.
Emerging from the ICC Hall at around 9 pm the Madhesi leaders told the press that the country would meet an accident if the major three parties decided to extend the CA term without addressing their demands.
"If the CA meeting is held without our consent and taking us into confidence, I must say, with regret, that we would opt out of the whole process," said Jaya Prakash Gupta, chief of the newly formed Madhesi People´s Rights Forum, Republican (MPRF-R).
The UDMF, which commands 71 seats in the 597-member House, initially put forward four major conditions for the extension of CA term. The conditions include: an agreement to integrate only 5,000 Maoist combatants into the security forces, assurance for promulgation of a democratic constitution, bringing the weapons containers in the cantonments directly under the control of the Special Committee and resignation of Prime Minister Jhalanath Khanal.
During informal negotiations, however, the Madhesi parteis narrowed the conditions down to agreement on peace process and Prime Minister Jhala Nath Khanal´s resignation.
"Though we have a number of demands, our main deamnds at this point are related to the peace process and prime minister´s resignation," said Sarat Singh Bhandari, a leader from Madhesi People´s Rights Forum, Democratic (MPRF-D).
The UDMF had played low-key roles in the political scene over the last few days, supporting the 10-point demand put forward by the NC for CA term extension.
According to party leaders, the UDMF suddenly became active at 4 pm following media reports that the three parties were close to a deal.
The UDMF comprises of Sadbhavana Party, Madhesi People´s Rights Forum, Democratic (MPRF-D), Tarai Madhes Democratic Party (TMDP), Tarai Madhes Democratic Party, Nepal (TMDP-N) and MPRF (Republican).
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