After a round of talks on Monday in a meeting convened by Prime Minister KP Sharma Oli, leaders from both sides had said that the Wednesday's meeting would enter into core contentious issues regarding the new constitution. However, the government and the United Democratic Madheshi Front ended up blaming each other behind the postponement of the talks on Wednesday.
"The prime minister was open for negotiation and he was in favor of meaningful talks. However, we got information that top UDMF leaders are shunning the meeting on Wednesday. Without the participation of the top leaders, the negotiation could not be fruitful. That is why we were forced to postpone the meeting," said Pramod Dahal, press advisor to the PM.
On the other hand, the UDMF leaders said that the government as well as major three parties failed to make a common understanding on their demands and chose to postpone the scheduled meeting.
"They informed us that the meeting has been postponed. We found that the major three parties -- namely CPN-UML, NC and UCPN (Maoist) -- could not make a common understanding. They were yet not serious about the problems the country has been facing," said Lal Babu Raut, vice-chairman of Federal Socialist Forum Nepal (FSFN).
Tarai Madhesh Democratic Party (TMDP) Spokesperson Sarbendra Nath Shukla said that the act of blaming UDMF top leaders behind the postponement was just a lame excuse. "The programs in Madhesh were set almost 15 days ago and leaders had prior commitments to attend mass meetings at different places. The UDMF talks team was here in Kathmandu. Had the talks entered into the key issues, the senior leaders were ready to come back to Kathmandu," said Shukla.
As the blame game continues, some leaders in the ruling coalition are found developing an understanding that the Madhesh-based parties are afraid of seeking solution. "Within the UDMF, there is a competition of being a 'messiah of Madhesh' and the leaders want to prolong the current situation for making future political agendas rather than solving the problems," said a leader who did not want to be named.
On the other hand, a UDMF leader alleged that the ruling coalition has used the negotiations only as a ploy to defuse Madhes movement. "They have high anticipation that India will change its stance after Delhi visit of Deputy Prime Minister Kamal Thapa. As India reiterated to seek political solution of the political problem, they canceled the meeting. The ruling coalition is not serious about the internal problems in Madhesh," added the leaders.
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