Madhes-based parties want at least 46 pc local

Expressing serious dissatisfaction over the possible number of local units in the tarai, the agitating Madhes-based parties are pressuring Prime Minister Pushpa Kamal Dahal not to receive the report of the commission formed to restructure local units under the federal system. According to one Madhesi leader, the United Democratic Madhesi Front (UDMF) has been suggesting to the PM to issue new terms of reference to the commission. The Madhesi leader also said that the UDMF wants at least 46 percent of the local units to be in the tarai. Sadbhavana Party Chairman Rajendra Mahato also said that the UDMF in principle wants the local units to remain under the federal provinces. “In principle, we want local restructuring to take place under the initiation of the province. If the commission is to determine the number and boundaries of local units, the number should be proportionate to the population,” he said. National Madhes Socialist Party General Secretary Keshav Jha said the number of local units should be fixed proportionately with the population since the Constitution includes village council chairmen and vice-chairmen as well as mayors and deputy mayors of municipalities in the electoral college for electing the members of the national assembly. “Whenever we talk about elections, we should understand that it is related to representation,” he said adding, “On the one hand, the Constitution has provisions for including village council chairmen and vice-chairmen as well as mayors and deputy mayors of municipalities in the electoral college, and on the other the commission is ignoring the population factor while fixing the number of local units.” - See more at: http://www.lightnepalvdo.com/videos/madhes-based-parties-want-at-least-46-pc-local/#sthash.6M5WDGp9.dpuf