The main opposition CPN-UML has demanded concrete proposals on constitution amendment to be registered in Parliament and commitment of the agitating Samyukta Loktantrik Madhesi Morcha to joining the May 14 polls that they have announced to boycott without their demands being addressed.

Following the decision of the ruling coalition to register a new amendment proposal after withdrawing the bill tabled in Parliament so as to bring the Morcha in the election process, Prime Minister Pushpa Kamal Dahal met UML Chairman KP Sharma Oli in Baluwatar on Friday.

During the meeting, Dahal urged Oli to support the government to endorse the amendment proposal by dropping the issue of provincial boundaries as the Morcha had agreed to join the polls after forming a federal commission to resolve the issue.

Senior Maoist Centre leader Narayan Kaji Shrestha, who was privy to the meeting, said Chairman Oli demanded Morcha’s commitment to joining the polls before registration of the new amendment proposal in Parliament.

The UML has stood firmly against redrawing the provincial boundaries claiming that the Supreme Court has directed the government to seek the consent of the yet-to-be-formed provincial assemblies to make changes in their boundaries.

After the Morcha became flexible about joining the polls even without amendment to the boundaries if the government forms a high-level federal commission to finalise the issues of boundaries and amends five issues of the new constitution, the PM urged the second largest party to support the government.

On Thursday, the ruling Maoist Centre decided to make efforts to ensure that the Morcha joins the polls, for example by increasing the local units in 11 Tarai districts—the eight of Province 2 and three of Province 5—on the basis of population as demanded by the agitating regional parties.

The party also decided to hold the local polls in the 11 districts in the second phase as the EC may need more time to prepare for the polls there. A similar decision was made by the ruling Nepali Congress on Friday.

According to Maoist leader Shrestha, the government would now talk with Morcha leaders and finalise the amendment proposal in consultation with the UML before registering the proposal.