E-Paper
Madhesis to boycott local elections in Nepal
An alliance of seven Madhes-based political parties has announced it will boycott the second phase of elections to Nepal’s local government bodies on June 14.
With a little more than a fortnight to go for the second phase of Nepal’s local elections, an alliance of seven Madhes-based political parties decided on Friday to launch a fresh agitation and boycott the polls scheduled for June 14.
The decision by the newly formed Rastriya Janata Party Nepal (RJPN) has resulted in uncertainty about the second phase of the polls to local government bodies. The Terai and Madhes belts are among the areas going to the polls next month.
After a meeting in Kathmandu, senior RJPN leaders said several accords between the government and Madhes-based parties had not implemented and cases against Madhesi leaders had not been withdrawn. The increase in new local government units in the Terai and Madhes belts is not enough and thousands of eligible voters were left out of the electoral process, they said.
But a splinter group from Madhes, Sanghiya Samajbadi Forum led by Upendra Yadav, said it will participate in the polls.
The RJPN has been demanding that Nepal’s new Constitution should be amended before the second phase of elections to address the grievances of the Madhesis.
“If our demands are not met prior to the elections, we are not going to take part in the elections,” said a strongly worded statement from the alliance. The RJPN also announced a series of protests would begin on Saturday.
In a bid to persuade Madhes-based to participate in the polls, the government decided to increase the number of local government units in the Terai region. But the RJPN rejected the government’s offer, saying the increase of 22 units was not in line with the population ratio.
The issue has been further complicated by the Supreme Court’s direction to the government not to implement the decision to increase the local government units.
The first phase of the local elections for 283 units in three provinces was held on May 14. The main opposition CPN-UML was ahead of the Nepali Congress, the largest party in Parliament, in this phase.
On June 14, elections will be held for 483 units in four provinces, most of them in the Terai and Madhes belts.
The RJPN announced several steps to obstruct the elections, including an indefinite strike during June 2-3, the dates chosen by the Election Commission for filing nominations for the second phase of polls.
