The deadlock in Nepal

The political turmoil in Nepal continues as the prospects of reaching a consensus over a new draft Constitution still appears bleak. The Constituent Assembly was expected to promulgate a new Constitution on January 22, but the political parties were unable to resolve their differences in order to complete the task. The intense optimism that accompanied the nation’s transition from being a monarchy to a republic about a decade ago has turned into dismay with the political parties repeatedly failing to deliver on their promises. Nepal witnessed a transition in 1990 from authoritarian monarchic rule to a constitutional monarchy, followed by a decade-long Maoist insurgency that ended in 2006 with a peace agreement and the overthrow of the monarchy in 2008. The Interim Constitution of 2007 created a 601-member Constituent Assembly that also doubled as Parliament until a new Constitution was enacted. The Maoists emerged as the majority party in the April 2008 elections, but the Constituent Assembly failed to meet its 2012 deadline and so the Assembly stood dissolved and fresh elections were called. The second Constituent Assembly that was convened in January 2014 also failed to draft a Constitution. Rivalry and squabbles amongst parties are the main reasons for the state of political dysfunction. In the majority is a coalition of the Nepali Congress and the Unified Marxist-Leninist (UML) party that has a two-thirds majority in the Assembly. The Maoist party, which performed dismally in the second round of elections, has partnered with the Madheshi Morcha, a coalition of regional parties from the southern plains.

Federalism has become one of the most contentious issues to be resolved by the Assembly. This debate is closely tied to issues of identity and equality in a diverse nation with hundreds of communities, dialects and cultures. The ethnic and regional parties demand a federal structure that recognises and grants political autonomy to their groups, while its opponents warn that such sectarian politics threaten the country’s unified national identity by fuelling ethnic conflicts among groups. This genuinely significant problem of creating and redefining the essence and identity of a new constitutional democracy is, however, being jeopardised by power struggles among political parties that are exploiting and polarising the diversity of the regions for their own personal gains. On Sunday, Constituent Assembly Chairman Subash Nembang announced the formation of a proposal committee to prepare a questionnaire on the disputed issues of the new Constitution, which will then be voted upon by the Assembly. But with an Opposition that is vehemently opposed to the move, there is little room for optimism on this count at this point.