UDMF sticks to 2 provinces
Cooperative fraud issue: Task force meeting to draft ToR ends w...
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KATHMANDU, Feb 18: A meeting of the joint taskforce, which is entrusted with drafting the Terms of References (ToR) for the proposed high-level political mechanism that is to resolve disputes over provincial boundaries, concluded inconclusively Wednesday.
The taskforce met Wednesday after Prime Minister KP Sharma Oli said in Parliament on Tuesday that the political mechanism would be formed before his India visit starting Friday.
The meeting was inconclusive as the United Democratic Madhesi Front (UDMF) demanded the ToR should specifically mention that the provincial delineations should be changed with two provinces in Tarai-Madhes, on the basis of the reports of the State Restructuring Commission and the Constituent Assembly Committee on State Restructuring. However, the major three parties remained in favor of finalizing the ToR, mentioning only that provincial delineations would be changed to address disputes in the mountains hill and Madhes regions, taking the commission's report as a reference.
"UDMF demanded mention of two provinces in Tarai-Madhes in the ToR itself while we said that we are ready to take the report of the State Restructuring Commission as reference for changing provincial delineations. A meeting of the taskforce on Thursday will finalize the ToR," said Nepali Congress leader Mahesh Acharya, a member of the taskforce.
However, Sadbhavana Party Co-Chair Laxman Lal Karna was less hopeful that the taskforce would finalize the ToR before the PM's India visit. "I am less hopeful the ToR will be finalized by Friday. The major three parties are in no mood to address the demand of the Madhes movement for two provinces in Madhes and we want that our demand should be met in the ToR itself," he said.
The government initiated the meeting of the taskforce as the Council of Ministers on Tuesday decided to form the political mechanism before the PM's India visit. A meeting of top leaders from the three major political parties last Friday had entrusted the joint taskforce with drafting the ToR of the proposed political mechanism.
At Wednesday's meeting, leaders from the Raj Kishor Yadav-led Madhesi People's Right Forum-Republican (MPRF-R), Anil Jha-led Nepal Sadbhavana Party and Sharad Singh Bhandari-led National Madhes Socialist Party also joined the taskforce.
The major political parties and Madhes-based parties are at the negotiating table to finalize the ToR of the high-level political mechanism for resolving the issues of provincial delineation within three months of its formation.
