The main opposition Nepali Congress (NC) has demanded that another political mechanism be formed at the earliest to address the issue of provincial boundaries, a key demand of the Madhes-based parties, thereby questioning the relevance of an existing mechanism led by Deputy Prime Minister and Minister for Foreign Affairs Kamal Thapa. 

The NC is of the view that the Thapa-led mechanism, formed on February 18, “cannot resolve the issues” and that a new political mechanism should be formed “on the basis of broader political consensus”. Formation of a parliamentary committee is the second option the NC has floated. The opposition party’s call to form another political mechanism comes at a time when the Madhes-based parties have already rejected to be part of the government-formed mechanism. Like the Madhes-based parties, the NC too has indicated that it will refuse to recognise the existing mechanism. 

The pressure from the NC to form another mechanism also follows a Cabinet decision on Friday to form two committees, one led by the prime minister and another by chief secretary, for state restructuring. 

The Madhes-based parties have already said that the state restructuring process, which also includes fixing provincial capitals, cannot be started unless the boundary row is addressed. The main opposition party has also blamed the ruling CPN-UML and UCPN (Maoist) for failing to address the Madhes concerns. The party says it will be difficult to implement the new constitution without resolving Madhes crisis. 

“After the completion of the General Convention and election of Parliamentary Party leader, our main priority now is resolving the Madhes crisis,” said NC Central Working Committee (CWC) leader Bimalendra Nidhi. 

As the largest party in Parliament, NC President Sher Bahadur Deuba is preparing to hold dialogue with the CPN-UML, the UCPN (Maoist), and agitating Madhes-based parties to seek a way out to Madhes crisis. 

The Madhes-based parties are preparing to launch another round of protest. 

The Thapa-led mechanism was formed on February 18, a day before Prime Minister KP Sharma Oli’s scheduled to visit to India. Madhes-based parties, which have objected to the way it was formed, say the mechanism was rushed through just to “appease foreigners”. They are also demanding that the mechanism be given the mandate to suggest number of federal units and their demarcation. 

When it comes to the Terms of Reference (ToR) of the mechanism, both the NC and the Madhes-based parties are on the same page. The Madhes-based parties are demanding that the ToR should clearly mention that there will be two provinces in TaraiMadhes. The NC is positive about Madhes-based parties’ demands on demarcation, say party leaders. 

“There is no meaning of forming a mechanism if it lacks power to put forward suggestions on the number of federal units and their demarcation,” said Nidhi. 

It has been more than a month and a half since the Thapa-led mechanism was formed, but it has failed to start its work.

Within the NC, Deuba is under pressure from party’s Madhesi leaders to resolve the Madhes issue at the earliest. 

The country must hold local, provincial and general elections within 22 months to avoid any constitutional crisis. And for this, the provincial issues need to be settled at the earliest.

“There is no meaning of forming a mechanism if it lacks power to put forward suggestions on the number of federal units and their demarcation,” said Nidhi. 

It has been more than a month and a half since the Thapa-led mechanism was formed, but it has failed to start its work.

Within the NC, Deuba is under pressure from party’s Madhesi leaders to resolve the Madhes issue at the earliest. 

The country must hold local, provincial and general elections within 22 months to avoid any constitutional crisis. And for this, the provincial issues need to be settled at the earliest.

• The existing political mechanism formed on February 18 under DPM and Foreign Minister Kamal Thapa cannot resolve Madhes crisis
• The ruling CPN-UML and the UCPN (Maoist) have failed to handle the Madhes issue responsibly
• There is no meaning of a mechanism which lacks power to put forward suggestions on number of federal units and demarcation
• Now that the party has concluded its General Convention and election of Parliamentary Party leader, addressing Madhes issue is a priority