Kathmandu, July 09: Nepal Cabinet on Wednesday endorsed
the constitution amendment bill on greater autonomy for
Madhesi region bordering India even though some of the Madhesi
parties did not fully agree to the proposal.
After several rounds of meeting among members of the
ruling seven party alliance and the Madhesi groups, Nepal
Cabinet endorsed the amendment bill that would address the
Madhesi People's demand for greater autonomy and include
provision to allow the formation of the government with simple
majority.
But the parliament meeting was again postponed for
tomorrow as some of the Madhesi parties did not fully agree to
the amendment proposal, government sources said.
Under the new agreement, the Madhesi parties will not
disrupt the Constituent Assembly meeting and the parties will
address the issues raised by the Madhesi parties for autonomy
and making Nepal Army more inclusive, according to Nepali
Congress leader Ram Baran Yadav.
"We have reached an agreement with the Madhesi parties
to allow smooth functioning of the CA meeting and to resolve
all the issues through CA proceedings," said CPN-UML leader
Bharat Mohan Adhikari.
However, Constituent Assembly member of Madhesi
People's rights forum B P Yadav said over phone that they
were not satisfied with the amendment proposal approved by the
seven party alliance and endorsed by the cabinet.
"As some differences still exist, we will sort out it
during Wednesday's joint meeting," he said without
elaborating. Political observers said there has been some
differences among the three Madhesi parties as to what should
be included in the constitution amendment.
The Madhesi parties have abandoned their earlier demand
for declaring Madhesi as a single autonomous region.
The Madhesi Peoples' Rights Forum, Terai Madhes
democratic party and Sadbhavana Party have been obstructing
the assembly proceedings for the past two weeks in support of
their demands.
According to the new amendment, a provision will be added
to Article 138 which states that Nepal will become a federal
democratic country with various autonomous states honouring
the aspiration of the Madhesi people for autonomy and the
aspirations of various other communities such as the
indigenous people and the backwards, among others.
The parties have also agreed to guarantee the
representation of Madhesi, indigenous, Dalit, women, and
backward communities in the Nepal Army based on the principle
of inclusive and proportional representation.
Speaking in the assembly today, Maoist chief Prachanda
stressed on the need for cooperation and collaboration among
the parties until the new constitution is drafted.
Earlier yesterday, Prachanda said the new government will
be formed within a week.
He also requested the Nepali Congress to join the
government, saying that no one should sit in the opposition
while the main task of the Constituent Assembly is to draft a
new constitution for Nepal.
Bureau Report