Nepal - Never ending process of forming a constitution

The dissolution of Nepali Constituent Assembly (CA) is indeed a setback for the progress of democracy in the country.

The 601 member legislature, which was supposed to write a constitution for the nascent democratic republic missed the deadlines four times since 2008. As Supreme Court refused to accept another extension Nepal Premier dissolved the assembly.

Hurdles in forming the Constitution

One of the major hurdles was the criteria to create new states. Maoists (239 seats) and Madhesies (together 74 seats) want to create states based on singular ethnicity while Nepali Congress (119 seats) and CPN-UML (109 seats) prefers multi ethnic states. Even in the last moment both parties were not able to reach a deal to solve problem. It looks like finally there was some agreement on the total number of states.



Seat of Nepalese Government



Ethnic problems are nothing new. When people of different ethnicities are staying in a country, issues may arise. But the problems will aggravate when people are forming parties based on ethnicity and engaged in never ending bargains. Problems need to be resolved through creative discussions, adapting the highest standards of accommodation for the benefit of entire nation. If the representatives can't resolve the base for the formation of states in four years, when they are going to do that?



Elections will come again, and these parties may get votes more or less in the old ratios. Then, what the new assembly will do with these questions?



Representatives may be patient enough to have long discussions running over years, but the same may not be applicable for common people. They may not be patient enough to see the never ending discussions on constitution.

Moreover, if things are going on this way people may start wondering what they got after transforming the country from a monarchy to a republic. Already the power cuts are cutting around eight to ten hours per day.

Conclusion

It’s high time for Nepali politicians to wake up from the never ending deadlocks and engage in constructive discussions to form a constitution and lead the country in the path of development. Already Nepal achieved some developments in political front like the integration of Maoist cadres to Nepali Army and society.

Writing a constitution without wasting further time is essential to gain further momentum for development. Hope that the new CA will be able to resolve the problems soon.

Sajeev.

Photo Courtesy: Wikipedia