Concluding that the government was not sincere in forging consensus as per the people’s movement and various historic agreements, the 30-party Opposition alliance on Sunday announced three-week long protests, including nationwide general shutdowns.
Following a meeting, the alliance announced their protests beginning March 19 and culminating in a three-day bandh (general strike) on April 9, according to a statement issued by UCPN (Maoist) Chairman Pushpa Kamal Dahal 'Prachanda'.
“The ruling coalition caused the failure of the talks to resolve dispute by insisting on seeking consensus around their 9-point proposal of November 3 [2014],” said Mr. Dahal. “Therefore launching the next phase of protests has become our compulsion and need.” The ruling and Opposition parties held the first formal dialogue since a breakdown in talks on Saturday.
The 9-point proposal submitted jointly by the Nepali Congress and the CPN (Unified Marxist-Leninist), CPN-UML, calls for a creation of 7-state federal model and a “reformed” Westminster model of governance. The Opposition rejected that proposal, terming it anti-identity and against the spirit of various past agreements.
