The Madhesi parties also urged UCPN (Maoist), Nepali Congress and CPN-UML to ensure their representation in the HLPM at the earliest if the big three parties are genuinely working to resolve problems facing the country. [break]
“Madhes has been bypassed while forming the High-level Political Mechanism,” Madhesi People´s Rights Forum Chairman Upendra Yadav told myrepublica.com. “How can the body resolve the problems facing the country by neglecting the entire Madhes?”
Yadav, whose party is currently into street agitations after forging working alliance with Tharuhat Joint Struggle Committee for one Madhes state in the entire Tarai strip, said they are not against the idea of joining the HLPM. “The big three parties, however, first need to make clear the terms of reference, jurisdiction, code of conduct and the constitutional grounds of the mechanism,” he said.
Yadav further said it should also be made clear whether the government will be obliged to implement the decisions taken by the HLPM.
The HLPM was formed on January 8 with Nepali Congress President Girija Prasad Koirala as coordinator with three broad objectives -- taking the ongoing peace process to a logical end, drafting new constitution on time and ending political deadlock. Maoist Chairman Pushpa Kamal Dahal and UML Chairman Jhala Nath Khanal are members of the mechanism while Prime Minister Madhav Nepal is an invitee member.
Tarai-Madhes Democratic Party (TMDP) Joint General Secretary Jitendra Sonar said a mechanism like HLPM formed to deal with country´s problems should have representation of maximum number of political parties.
Sonar said Madhesi parties also need to be given fair share in the mechanism if the body aims at bailing the country out of the current impasse.
Chairman of Madhesi People´s Rights Forum (Democratic) Bijaya Kumar Gachchhadar also has reservations over an HLPM without Madhesi parties.
Addressing his party function in Birgunj on Saturday, Gachchhadar, who is also a deputy prime minister and minister for physical planning and works, said there must be the representation of Madhesi parties if the objective of the mechanism is to taken the peace process to logical end and write a new constitution on time. “The mechanism is meaningless without the representation of Madhesi parties,” he said.
The big three parties have announced they would include other political parties but they have not made any decision to this effect.
According to NC General Secretary Bimalendra Nidhi, who has been participating in the HLPM meeting, the decision to expand HLPM was delayed as the Maoists have insisted that the discussion for ending the current political deadlock should be held first. The Maoists had withdrawn their planned "indefinite" general strikes starting January 10 after the NC and UML agreed to discuss the impasse with top priority at the HLPM. "The next meeting of the HLPM scheduled for Monday is likely to take decision on expanding the mechanism," he said.
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