Nepal government invites Madhesis to resolve deadlock

The Nepal government has made a fresh call to the agitating Samyukta Loktantrik Madhesi Morcha to return to the negotiating table, as the latter announced the launch of an aggressive protest.

Deputy Prime Minister Kamal Thapa, who leads the dialogue committee, sent a formal invitation on Sunday to the Morcha for talks, reports the Kathmandu Post.

After consultation with the interlocutors of the participating parties, the date for a meeting would be decided.

Ever since the Thapa-led political mechanism was formed in February 18, there have been no talks between the government and the Madhesi-based parties.

The committee is yet to take shape as the Madhesi parties and the Nepali Congress, the largest party in parliament, refused to send their representatives to it.

Thapa in a letter informed that the government was committed in addressing the concerns of the agitating parties through dialogue.

Asserting that there was no alternative to resolving the outstanding differences through discussion, he urged the Madhesi parties to send their representatives to the panel tasked with working out the details for redrawing the boundaries of the provinces.

The Madhesi-based parties, however, are in no mood to readily accept the call for dialogue and instead charge that the government is not serious about resolving the crisis.

Madhesis demand prior assurance of at least two provinces in the plains and statutory status to the political mechanism. The request government declines as preconditions to dialogue.

IMAGE: Protesters affiliated with Madhesi groups demonstrate against the proposed constitution as they march towards the parliament in Kathmandu, Nepal. Photograph: Navesh Chitrakar/Reuters