MADHESIS AGREE TO LOCAL POLLS AFTER MEETING EAM SWARAJ

KATHMANDU: The Madhes-based parties of Nepal announced on Friday that they would participate in polls to local bodies slated for September 18, hours after they met external affairs minister Sushma Swaraj, who pushed them to join the electoral process.

The Madhesi parties also agreed to present their proposal for amending Nepal’s new Constitution for a vote in Parliament. Over the past few months, the parties had set the amendment of the Constitution as a condition for their participation in the polls.

Swaraj held a meeting with top Madhes-based leaders on Thursday evening on the sideline of the BIMSTEC ministerial meeting here and pushed them leaders to take part in the polls.

During a meeting with Prime Minister Sher Bahadur Deuba on Friday, Madhesi leaders said they would take part in the upcoming polls to local bodies of province no 2 and also agreed to present their proposal for amending the Constitution for a vote in Parliament.

“Our key demand was sorting out the constitutional amendment proposal. During our meeting with the prime minister and the ruling party leaders, they agreed to put it in for the voting process,” said Sharat Singh Bhandari, a top leader of the Rastriya Janata Party of Nepal.

The support of two-thirds of the MPs is required to approve the amendment proposal, which has already been tabled in the House as a Bill.