With the CPN(Maoist-Centre)-led government in Nepal approving amendments to the Constitution that will be tabled in Parliament, a first step towards positive change has been made in addressing federal concerns. The amendments include federal redrawing of boundaries that will allow for at least two Madhesi-dominated Terai provinces, substantial recognition of rights of naturalised citizens, especially women, and some degree of proportional representation in the Upper House. All these were major demands raised by Madhesi and other groups in agitations that lasted months and disrupted life. But with the opposition Communist Party of Nepal (Unified-Marxist Leninist) refusing to countenance any change, the Nepali Congress not providing adequate support to the government and the Madhesi parties refusing to budge from maximalist positions in the run-up to the move, it remains to be seen whether these amendments will pass. A failure would mean the political battle to honour the commitments made in the interim Constitution in 2007, which followed a series of agitations seeking a federal democratic character to Naya Nepal, is lost to the status quoists.
Last week marked the tenth anniversary of the Comprehensive Peace Accord (CPA) between mainstream political parties and the Nepali Maoists. It formally ended the decade-long civil war and paved the way for a constitutional republic. The initial achievements, painstakingly won, secured the peace process and mainstreamed the Maoists to bring a measure of stability to a country emerging not only from civil war but also a disastrous spell of rule by the palace. However, these last ten years have not quite seen the substantive change people had hoped for, with political parties abandoning the bipartisan approach to the CPA. Far from rising to the responsibilities of the new compact, the polity reverted to its default position of the 1990s, with short-termist power grabs and spells of political instability. This abdication resulted in a failure to forge consensus on the contentious issues of state restructuring and amendments to the Constitution to address the concerns of the Madhesis and other ethnic groups. The naysayers have cynically used the ‘nationalist’ line to resist the amendments, suggesting that these are directed by a foreign hand (read India). This ploy has been frequently used to resist democratic change. Unlike what the ‘nationalists’ claim, a truly federal Nepal is not a recipe for instability. Provinces sharing the power that is currently concentrated in Kathmandu would stabilise Nepali politics and empower marginalised communities. Prime Minister Pushpa Kamal Dahal ‘Prachanda’ took office promising momentum to the political process. Months later, he has taken the first step.
