NEPAL: MADHESI CABINET MINISTER RESIGNS TO PROTEST

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 02 KATHMANDU 002065

SIPDIS

SIPDIS

E.O. 12958: DECL: 11/21/2017
TAGS: PREL PGOV PINR PHUM NP
SUBJECT: NEPAL: MADHESI CABINET MINISTER RESIGNS TO PROTEST
GOVERNMENT INACTION

Classified By: Ambassador Nancy J. Powell. Reasons 1.4 (b/d).

Summary
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1. (C) Several senior Madhesis, including Minister of
Science and Technology Thakur and three other Members of
Parliament, resigned their positions in the Cabinet,
Parliament and respective political parties on December 10 to
protest the government's failure to address Madhesi concerns.
They indicated that they were contemplating creating a new
Madhesi party. Minister Thakur was the most senior Madhesi
in the Nepali Congress, dealing a major blow to party leader
and Prime Minister G.P. Koirala as well as highlighting the
depth of Madhesi disillusionment.

Madhesis Resign from Cabinet and Parliament
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2. (U) On December 10, Nepali Congress (NC) Minister of
Science and Technology Mahanta Thakur declared at a press
conference in Kathmandu that he had tendered his resignation
from the Cabinet, the Interim Parliament, and his party in
frustration over the inability or unwillingness of the
Government of Nepal to address Madhesi grievances in the
Terai. Hridayesh Tripathi, a former Minister of Industry and
Commerce from the Madhesi-based Nepal Sadbhavana Party -
Anandi Devi (NSP-A),Mahendra Yadav of the Communist Party of
Nepal - United Marxist Leninist (UML),and Ram Chandra Raya
of the Rastriya Prajatantrik Party (RPP) announced their
resignations from the Interim Parliament and their respective
parties at the same press conference. Several other
lower-level Madhesi politicians joined them in making similar
announcements.

Possible New Party in the Works
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3. (U) The lawmakers indicated they were contemplating the
creation of a separate Madhesi party. At the press
conference Tripathi expressed displeasure about the role of
the UN Mission in Nepal and its presence in the Terai. He
said he wanted a federal state for the Terai, for which he
and his compatriots would agitate through a strong but
peaceful movement. In an press interview the evening of
December 10, Tripathi also stated that the Interim Parliament
no longer had any relevance because it functioned as a rubber
stamp for the Six-Party Alliance and the Maoists and had
proven incapable of addressing Madhesi issues. He indicated
that the people of Madhes had taken the lead during the
Madhesi uprising from January to March 2007, not the
politicians. The new grouping intended now to provide the
leadership which had been lacking.

Thakur Steadfast in Decision
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4. (C) According to press reports, Thakur refused Prime
Minister G.P. Koirala's plea in person after the press
conference to withdraw his resignation and remain in the NC.
A high-level NC delegation had no more success in convincing
Thakur to reconsider. 65-year-old Thakur, a four-time
minister, was the most senior Madhesi leader in the NC, and
his resignation is widely considered by local observers to be
a major blow to the Prime Minister. Thakur had been the
Prime Minister's interlocutor to Madhesi groups in spring
2007 and had also played a key role in brokering the 12-Point
Agreement between the then Seven-Party Alliance and the
Maoists in November 2005, in part because of his close ties
to India.

Additional Biographic Information
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5. (C) Thakur previously was Minister of Information and
Communications (1997-1998),of Forest and Soil Conservation
(1999-2000),of Law, Justice and Parliamentary Affairs

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(2000-2001) and of Agriculture and Cooperatives (2006-2007).
He is a prior Deputy Speaker of the House of Representatives
and a former Nepali Congress Treasurer. Thakur was elected
to Parliament on a NC ticket in 1991, 1994 and 1999 and is a
lawyer by profession. Hridayesh Tripathi began his career in
politics as a student with the Nepal Communist Party. He was
first elected to Parliament on the NSP ticket in 1991. He
served briefly as Minister of Forest and Soil Conservation in
1997 and was Minister of Commerce and Industry in the first
Interim Government from May 2006 until April 1, 2007. Until
his resignation, Tripathi was a senior leader of the NSP-A's
establishment faction, which is a member of the current
government. Mahendra Yadav was first elected to Parliament
in 1991 on the Communist Party ticket, and joined the UML the
following year. Yadav served as State Minister for
Construction and Transport in 1997. Ram Chandra Raya served
on the Rastriya Panchayat in 1981 and 1986 and represented
the RPP in Parliament from 1999.

Comment
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6. (C) Madhesi People's Rights Forum (MPRF) senior adviser
Awadesh Kumar Singh told Emboff December 11 that news of the
resignation of Thakur and the other Madhesi leaders had been
warmly welcomed in the Terai. The MPRF (Upendra Yadav
faction) leader added that the MPRF intended to picket the
homes of all the other roughly 35 non-Maoist Madhesi MPs
until they also resigned from the Interim Parliament. The
resignations, particularly of the prominent Thakur, signify
the depth of Madhesi disenchantment with the Nepali
Government. In spite of bitter rivalries within the MPRF and
the NSP-A, there are early indications that all these groups
are prepared to work together under Thakur's leadership. If
Thakur, who is a committed democrat and widely respected in
the Terai and in New Delhi, is able to unite the Madhesis,
his new grouping may be the Terai's best chance for forcing
the government to address Madhesi grievances without
spiraling into additional violence and instability. If not,
the predictions of Embassy interlocutors and Nepalese
politicians -- that the problem in the Terai will soon far
overshadow the challenge of mainstreaming the Maoists -- may
prove correct.
POWELL