SLMM may agree on deal of 4-pt plan of ruling parties

Kathmandu January 3- The SLMM, which had earlier utterly  rejected the government proposal on redrawing provincial boundaries through a mechanism in three months, has indicated that it could accept a cross-party committee for the purpose. It has, however, set two riders: A certain timeframe must be set for such a mechanism and there should be assurance that the recommendation(s) made by the mechanism will be implemented. 

Even with the preconditions, leaders say there is the likelihood of an agreement on government’s four-point proposal. What the Morcha now wants is “clarity and assurances” on the Terms of References (ToR) of the proposed cross-party mechanism.

SLMM leaders have said that the proposed mechanism should finish its work in 15-30 days, instead of three months that the government has proposed. The main opposition Nepali Congress and government coalition partner UCPN (M) though are ready to do so, the ruling CPN- UML has said it will be meaningless to allocate less time (15-30 days) now and extending it later. 

Leaders from the SLMM, two major parties in the government and the main opposition say a meeting point on time period for the mechanism can be worked out. Source: TKP