MJF-N, FSPN close to finalising merger deal for new party

KATHMANDU, JUN 12 - Madhesi Janadhikar Forum-Nepal (MJF-N) and the Federal Socialist Party Nepal (FSPN) are expected to formally announce their unification within a few days. Top leaders of the two opposition parties have already drafted the manifesto and agreed on the ideology and the organisational structure of the new party which will be named Sanghiya Forum.

Leaders from both sides said on Thursday that the new party would fight for the rights of Madhesis, Janajatis, Dalits and other marginalised groups. They said the new party will uphold the principle of socialism and the agendas raised by the Madhes and the Janajati movements, including single Madhes state and identity-based federalism.

“United, we will be stronger. It will bolster our strength to continue our struggle for what we have been fighting for,” said Rajendra Shrestha, FSPN general secretary.

FSPN sources said that MJF-N Chairman Upendra Yadav would head the party, while FSPN Chairman Ashok Rai will hold the position of senior leader. There will also be a co-chairman, five vice chairpersons, and two general secretaries in the party.

Ang Kaji Sherpa, FSPN central committee member, said nearly 90 percent of the issues relating to the party unification have been finalised. “The leaders from both sides have prepared the party’s manifesto, organisational structure and other technical issues. There will be some changes based on the recommendations of the central committee members,” he said.

The two parties are also holding discussions with other “like-minded forces” for possible merger.

The leaders from the two parties are said to be in talks with the leaders of other fringe parties, both inside and outside the Constituent Assembly, to start a movement under the leadership of the new party, to safeguard the rights of marginalised groups in the new constitution.

Both MJF-N and FSPN had opposed the 16-point agreement that was reached among the three major political parties—Nepali Congress, CPN-UML and UCPN (Maoist)—and the Madhesi Janadhikar Forum-Loktantrik on Monday night. After the major political parties struck a deal to federate the country into eight states, MJF-N and FSPN had withdrawn their support to the 30-party alliance, led by the UCPN (Maoist). Also, the merger talks between the two parties, which had been largely informal before the 16-point deal, suddenly became inevitable.

Though some observers have said that the weakening positions of Madhesi and Janajati parties had hastened the merger deal, FSPN General Secretary Shrestha does not  agree. In fact, he claimed, that the MJF-N and FSPN unification was just a beginning of a long-conceived campaign to bring the regional and ethnic parties under one political banner. “More parties are likely to join us in the days to come. The momentum has just begun,” Shrestha claimed.