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 Nepal likely to miss constitution deadline AGAIN
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Posted on 01-15-15 10:37 AM     Reply [Subscribe]
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Members of Nepal’s Constituent Assembly attend the first meeting of the Constituent Assembly in Kathmandu on Jan.22, 2014.
 
PRAKASH MATHEMA/AFP/Getty Images

Nepal’s quest to get a new constitution by a January 22 deadline looks to be thwarted once again.

The three major political parties in the Constituent Assembly–the elected body whose task is to craft the new constitution – continue to disagree on several basic questions regarding the number and type of new states, the country’s electoral and judicial systems and the overall shape of governance. The committee tasked with finding a consensus disbanded this week after the parties failed to reach agreement.

A new constitution, if adopted with wide consensus, would mark the culmination of a peace process that began in 2006 under which Nepal’s Maoist rebels gave up arms and joined mainstream politics. As a part of that peace process, the monarchy was abolished and Nepal, an erstwhile Hindu kingdom, was declared a secular republic. Several Maoist soldiers were integrated with the national army.

Baburam Bhattarai, leader of the main opposition Unified Communist Party of Nepal (Maoist), hinted at the possibility the January deadline would be extended, describing it as just a “political commitment” among the major political parties, and therefore not legally binding. Mr. Bhattarai headed the committee seeking consensus.

Following the failure of the committee, Nepal’s two ruling parties–Nepali Congress and Communist Party of Nepal (Unified Marxist-Leninist)–said they will work to bring at least a draft constitution by the set deadline.

In the meantime, Mr. Bhattarai’s party, the third largest party in the Parliament, and its alliance of several small political parties announced general strikes in different parts of the country this week in protest against what they said the attempt by the two ruling parties to issue a new constitution by two-thirds majority vote without taking them onboard. They have also announced joint protest programs in the days ahead of the deadline.

Raghuji Pant, senior member of ruling CPN (UML), said his party and the Congress party are still committed to come up with a new constitution by January 22 via a vote in the Constituent Assembly, which also works as a parliament. “We waited enough to reach a consensus, but failed,” he said.

Nepal’s current Constituent Assembly was elected in November 2013 after the earlier Assembly, elected in 2008, dissolved following disagreement among political parties on the key issues of the new constitution. The major traditional political parties—Nepali Congress and CPN (UML), which together have two-thirds majority in the Parliament– want seven “common identity” federal states, keeping in mind Nepal’s multi-ethnic and diverse geographical background. The Maoist party-led alliance wants 10 federal states based on a single ethnic identity.

Except on this point, the political parties had “almost reached a consensus” on the other key issues, said Mr. Bhattarai of the unified Maoist party.

Prakash Sharan Mahat, senior member of the Congress party, said the ruling parties want to issue a draft constitution by January 22 so that they can “give some positive message to the public.”

In a statement Wednesday, the United Nations’ Under Secretary General for Political Affairs, Jeffrey Feltman, who was in Nepal on a two-day visit to press the parties to issue a new constitution in time, urged the parties to move ahead by exercising “compromise, flexibility, and inclusivity.” In the statement he said, “We believe it is essential for political leaders to seize the moment and carry out the mandate entrusted to them by the Nepali people.”

http://blogs.wsj.com/indiarealtime/2015/01/15/nepal-likely-to-miss-constitution-writing-deadline-again/


 


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