Skip to main content

UML pours cold water on consensus efforts

By: Tika R Pradhan

A bid to find consensus on a constitution amendment proposal failed on Monday after the CPN-UML appeared dead set against it.
After Prime Minister Pushpa Kamal Dahal called for consensus on amendment to four issues of the constitution and explained how the provincial boundary row could be addressed, UML Chairman KP Sharma Oli urged Dahal not to register the proposal, saying “it is anti-national”, according to a leader who was present in the three-party meeting.
Oli is also learnt to have told the ruling coalition that the UML would “do what the main opposition is supposed to do” if the government “forcibly registers the amendment proposal”, according to the leader, who said the main opposition presented itself aggressively at the meeting.
With the main opposition, which on Sunday made its stance clear that it would reject the constitution amendment proposal, refusing to budge from its position on Monday as well, the governing parties—CPN (Maoist Centre) and the Nepali Congress (NC)—are now mulling over registering the amendment proposal without the support of the UML.
The merger between Rastriya Prajatantra Party (RPP) and RPP-Nepal on Monday may also have made the ruling coalition believe that the amendment proposal could be endorsed without the support of the UML, the second largest party in Parliament.
After UML leaders left the meeting, coalition partners decided to hold talks with the Samyukta Loktantrik Madhesi Morcha (SLMM), a coalition of seven Madhes-based parties, about constitution amendment.
“The UML is not ready to amend the constitution. So the government will hold discussions with the Madhesi forces and move ahead accordingly,” Deputy Prime Minister and Minister for Home Affairs Bimalendra Nidhi said after the meeting.
But nonetheless, the Morcha also has its fair share of reservations about the proposal on which the government has been working. It has warned that it will disown the proposal if it fails to address all of its concerns.
Leaders of the ruling coalition said the Maoist Centre and the NC would discuss the next move after holding talks with Morcha leaders. Maoist and NC leaders are of the view that there is no point in registering the proposal if the Morcha refuses to take ownership.
During the three-party meeting, PM Dahal had presented the plan to resolve the row over provincial boundaries. Proposing Nawalparasi to Bardiya as Province 5, PM Dahal had suggested that seven hilly districts from Province 5 could be adjusted in other provinces—something which was jointly floated by the NC and the UML earlier in the Constituent Assembly. But the UML refused to budge.
Oli is also learnt to have told PM Dahal that the latter was leading the country towards confrontation.
“The UML backtracked from its earlier position. Hence, the consensus bid failed,” said Maoist leader Barshaman Pun. “The government will now hold discussions with the Madhes-based parties to decide the next move.” According to UML Vice Chairman Bhim Rawal, the main opposition during Monday’s meeting made it clear that “there is no point in registering the amendment proposal as the Morcha itself is not ready for it”.

Published: 22-11-2016
http://kathmandupost.ekantipur.com/news/2016-11-22/uml-pours-cold-water-on-consensus-efforts.html 

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

India Government raises grant for Nepal by 17 percent

India Government raises grant for Nepal by 17 percent The Indian government has pledged to extend 17 percent more in financial aid to Nepal in the next fiscal year, indicating greater enthusiasm of the southern neighbour to support the landlocked country’s development endeavours. The Indian government has allocated a grant of IRs3.75 billion (Rs6 billion) for Nepal in 2017-18, as against IRs3.20 in 2016-17. The allocation was made through the Union Budget 2017-18 launched by Indian Finance Minister Arjun Jaitely on Wednesday.  In addition to the amount, India has also pledged to extend a grant of IRs113.30 million to Nepal Police Academy in 2017-18, the Indian budget document says. The grant pledged for Nepal in 2017-18 is second highest among South Asian countries, with Bhutan leading the pack. The Indian government has expressed commitment to extend IRs37.14 billion in grant to Bhutan in 2017-18. The amount, however, is 4 percent lower than in 2016-17. In total, Ind...
Post a Comment
Read more

Nepal to discuss new power trade guidelines with India

The Energy Ministry is planning to hold talks with the Indian Power Ministry over its recently issued discriminatory guidelines on cross-border power trade which prohibit private and third country hydropower developers in Nepal from exporting electricity to India with a one-time approval. According to the Guidelines on Cross-Border Trade of Electricity published by the Indian government last Monday, only companies in Nepal which are wholly owned by the Indian government or the public sector, or private companies with a 51 percent or higher Indian stake would be eligible to export power to India. These companies will be given a one-time approval to sell power to India, according to the guidelines. Also, companies owned or controlled by the Nepali government will be allowed to sell power to India after getting a one-time approval from the Indian authorities, according to the new rules. However, private companies owned by Nepali or third country developers wishing to export power to...
Post a Comment
Read more

Protests, clashes in Province 5 districts over demarcations

With the government bent on tabling the constitution amendment bill in parliament, protests have intensified again in various districts of western and mid-western regions after a gap of few days. Protests that had been toned down earlier in view of the hardships caused to the locals, have now been intensified from Friday with an announcement of a three-day general strike in all districts of Province 5. 'Joint struggle committees' comprising leaders of major political parties in the districts--Nawalparasi, Rupandehi, Kapilvastu, Dang, Banke, Bardiya, Rukum, Rolpa, Pyuthan, Arghakhanchi, Gulmi and Palpa--announced the strike against government preparations to table the amendment proposal in parliament. The strike has largely affected vehicular movement while schools, government offices, factories and markets remained closed.  Tensions ran high in Gulmi, Nepalgunj of Banke and Rolpa after the protestors prevented locals from using all kinds of vehicles. Over 24 prot...
Post a Comment
Read more