BIKRAM RAI
BORDERLINE: A woman with broom cleans the pavement near the nearly deserted checkpoint on the India-Nepal border in Birganj early morning on Tuesday.
Parliament is preparing its first post-constitution session for Friday even as Nepal is hit hard by an Indian blockade that has now lasted ten days. The good news is that talks between the top three parties and Madhesi dissenters have gathered pace in Kathmandu.
A three-member negotiation team of the NC-UML-UCPN(M) held talks with Madhesi leader Mahanta Thakur, indicating that both sides feel the impasse has dragged on too long and want a settlement. Prime Minister Sushil Koirala is expected to step down on Friday, paving the way for UML Chair KP Oli to lead a new all-party government that will include the UCPN(M). Sources said some of the negotiations this week were also centred around Madhesi and Tharu leaders joining that government.
On Thursday, the three parties agreed to readjust federal boundaries by forging an all-party consensus and implement past agreements. They also created a conducive environment for talks by withdrawing the Nepal Army from violence-hit areas, providing medical treatment for injured protesters, and Rs 1 million for families of the estimated 40 people killed by police in the past month.
Thakur is expected to take the proposals from the three parties to other Madhesi leaders like Upendra Yadav and Rajendra Mahato in Gaur. Early this week, Thakur had met the three party leaders and returned to Rautahat to discuss whether to sit for talks. But Madhesi parties, emboldened by India’s backing, refused talks and instead denounced the ban on Hindi television channels and announced that they would stop paying government taxes.
“We just want it down in writing from the three parties ,” Mahendra Ray Yadav of the Tarai Madhes Sadbhavana Party told us. The ball is now in the court of the Madhesi leaders, and India will have to play a crucial role.
The Madhesi parties and New Delhi are not said to be not happy about Oli being the next prime minister, since he is considered a hill hardliner.