Five months after the Madhes unrest began, the Madhesi parties have finally agreed with the government on something: set up a taskforce to narrow down differences between the two sides.
A meeting of the Madhesi Morcha, an alliance of four Madhesi parties, on Tuesday finalised the names of three representatives who will be members of an all-party taskforce. Federal Socialist Forum Nepal's Rajendra Shrestha, Tarai Madhesi Loktantrik Party's Hridayesh Tripathi and Tarai Madhes Sadbhavana Party's Ram Naresh Ray Yadav will be in the taskforce.
The big three parties – the NC, the UML and the UCPN (M) – have already chosen Mahesh Acharya, Bhim Rawal and Krishna Bahadur Mohara as members of the taskforce. On Sunday, the three parties had proposed to form an all-party committee to sort out differences between the two sides.
The taskforce is expected to discuss each of the 11 points of demand put forth by the Morcha.
The Morcha has not sent any representative from Sadbhavana Party to the taskforce. After its Chair Rajendra Mahato was thrashed by police last week, the party has boycotted talks with the NC-UML-UCPN (M). It has also announced its own protest programs.
However, Sadhbavan Party has claimed that it is still a constituent of the Morcha. "We have supported the Morcha's decision to be part of the all-party taskforce," said Sadbhavana Party leader Laxman Lal Karna. "But we will not cooperate unless the government apologises for police attack on our President."