Negotiators from the Madhes-based parties have said that they “can hope” but “are not that optimistic” about the formation of the proposed political mechanism in three days.

Prime Minister KP Sharma Oli, while addressing the House on Tuesday, said that the proposed mechanism “will be formed” before he leaves for India.

PM Oli is leaving for India on Friday.

Earlier, the major forces and the Madhes-based parties  had agreed, in principle, to form a political mechanism to address boundary issues.

But Madhesi leaders said differences over legality, jurisdiction and broader legitimacy of the proposed mechanism continue to persist.

 Tarai Madhes Loktantrik Party Chairman Mahantha Thakur said that he was not that optimistic about any deal in the next few days, as some key differences still needed to be sorted out.

“We would very much like to see the proposed mechanism in place. But they [major parties] should come forward with a clear offer on the framework and Terms of Reference (ToR) of the mechanism,” said Thakur. “Let’s see if the PM takes any concrete step to that effect.”

The agitating Samyukta Loktantrik Madhesi Morcha, which is now an alliance of seven Tarai-centric parties, insists that such political mechanism should be given statutory status by incorporating it and its ToR in the schedule of the constitution.

The major parties have so far refused to give statutory status to the mechanism but have proposed that it could be endorsed through Parliament for broader legitimacy.

Besides, the Morcha has been calling for mentioning “at least one more province in the Tarai” in the framework of agreement. But the major parties are not ready to make any commitment on the number of provinces.  

Rajendra Shrestha, co-chairman of Sanghiya Samajbadi Forum Nepal said that major parties have so far agreed to use reports of the state restructuring commission and other past agreements reached with minorities “as reference materials for boundary revision”.

During closed-door discussions, representatives of the major parties had proposed that an agreement could be framed in line with the deal signed between Bijaya Kumar Gachhadhar-led Madhesi Janadhikar Forum-Loktantrik and the ruling CPN-UML and the UCPN (Maoist).

But Madhesi parties have refused to accept it, saying “it fails to give clear assurance on anything”.

The Cabinet on Tuesday, however, has decided to begin the process to form the mechanism.

•  Legality, jurisdiction and broader legitimacy of the proposed mechanism
•  Morcha’s demand that political mechanism should be provided statutory status by incorporating it and its Terms of Reference in the schedule of the constitution
•  The major parties have proposed that the political mechanism could be endorsed through Parliament for broader legitimacy
•  Morcha’s demand that ‘at least one more province in the Tarai’ be mentioned in the framework of agreement
•  Major parties have refused to make any commitment on number of provinces