The government has decided to try its best to take into confidence the main opposition CPN-UML and the Samyukta Loktantrik Madhesi Morcha (SLMM) before tabling a constitution amendment proposal on Sunday. 

A meeting of leaders of the governing CPN (Maoist Centre) and the Nepali Congress (NC) on Friday decided to hold intra-party parleys on some of the disputed issues and convince the UML and the Madhes-based parties before tabling the amendment bill. “We will table the proposal on Sunday. We are yet to decide future course of action if other parties do not come to consensus,” NC leader and Deputy Prime Minister and Home Minister Bimalendra Nidhi told the Post. He added that the proposal will include four issues—federal demarcation, citizenship, language and representation in Upper House. Maoist Chairman and Prime Minister Pushpa Kamal Dahal, NC President Sher Bahadur Deuba, DPMs Krishna Bahadur Mahara and Nidhi, Minister for Physical Infrastructure and Transport Ramesh Lekhak and Maoist leader Narayan Kaji Shrestha attended Friday’s meeting in Baluwatar.

The government had earlier planned to table the amendment proposal on Friday.

But amid flaring debate over changing the boundary of Provinces 4 and 5, leaders decided to hold discussions on the draft with their party leaders for two days and at the same time to make efforts to take the Morcha into confidence. The UML has already warned of stern protests if the government tables the constitution amendment proposal.

Regarding the matter relating to naturalised citizenship, Nidhi said, “Talks that the government is going to allow naturalised citizens to hold top positions in constitutional bodies are baseless.” 

According to PM Dahal, talks were on to hand naturalised citizenship to foreigner women who marry Nepali men as soon as they renounce the citizenship of the country of their origin. 

Regarding representation in the Upper House, Dahal, during a meeting with Maoist Centre leaders of Kaski, said representatives will be selected keeping in mind the population and geography of the state. According to Maoist leader Shrestha, all provinces will have at least five representatives in Upper House while the remaining will be determined on the basis of population. 

Nidhi, on the other hand, stated that talks were on to give each state only four representatives and the rest will be added on the basis of population.   

The draft proposal states that Hill districts of Province 5 will be kept separate to make Province 2 a “Madhes Province” by accommodating areas from Parasi to Bardiya to it, said Shrestha. He added that Palpa, Arghakhachi, Gulmi and eastern parts of Rukum and Pyuthan will be incorporated into Province 4. 

Dispute over other five districts—Kailali, Kanchanpur, Jhapa, Morang and Sunsari—will be resolved through a to-be-formed federal commission. Shrestha said leaders were positive on his proposal to seek a concrete answer from the Morcha before the constitution amendment proposal is tabled. “Both Dahal and Deuba have agreed to my proposal. If the Morcha doesn’t agree, the amendment proposal will lose its significance,” he said.