By IRNA
New Delhi : Leaders in Nepal’s Terai plains have dismissed the agreement among the Seven-Party Alliance (SPA) that paves the way for a new political and electoral system as “nothing but a power-sharing deal”.
Determined to push ahead with their agitational programme for greater economic and political rights for the Madhesi community, the Terai groups termed the SPA agreement inked on Sunday a ploy to prolong the government’s tenure, Indian national TV news portal reported here.
Two factions of the Madhesi People’s Rights Forum (MPRF) and the Rajendra Mahato-led Sadbhavana Party said the SPA pact to increase the number of seats under the proportional electoral system and the process for declaring Nepal a federal republic would not address the problems faced by the people living in the Terai plains bordering India.
“The agreement is not only incomplete but also vague in itself,” said Kishor Kumar Biswas, vice president of the MPRF dissident faction.
The MPRF faction led by Upendra Yadav also accused the SPA of ignoring the concerns of the Madhesis, Janajatis and Dalits while working out the agreement on Sunday.
“Key demands of these groups like a fully proportional electoral system and an autonomous Madhesh state with the right to self- determination under a federal structure have been completely ignored,” B P Yadav, the group’s general secretary was quoted as saying.
“Turning a blind eye towards the need for addressing the demands of the armed groups operating in the Terai cannot ensure polls,” he said, stressing the agreement was nothing but a power-sharing deal.
Sadbhavana Party Chairman Rajendra Mahato termed the agreement “a ploy to extend the tenure of the current government.”