On the one hand, the UCPN (Maoist) is claiming that the consensus government should be under its leadership on the grounds that it is the largest party in the Constituent Assembly (CA). On the other hand, the other two political parties, the Nepali Congress (NC) and the Communist Party of Nepal-Unified Marxist and Leninist (CPN-UML) oppose the demands of the UCPN (Maoist), saying that the first point from the May 28 three-point agreement between the three major political parties has not been implemented by the Maoist side. The first point of the agreement is about the remaining tasks of peace process, including the integration and management of the Maoist’s combatants.

CPN-UML is on the view that it has to lead the new government, claiming that NC has the President and Chairperson of the CA constitutional committee, while the UCPN (Maoist) has combatants under its control. Most of the CPN-UML leaders claim that in keeping its own military, the UCPN (Maoist) can’t lead the new government. Therefore, they are asserting that their party has to lead the new consensus government if it is to happen. If the consensus government can’t be formed, the CPN-UML has to form the majority government under its leadership. Some of the leaders are suggesting that the party has to request that the president extends the time for formation of the consensus government, and also allows for the current caretaker government until the new government is formed.

It seems that NC leaders are reluctant to lead the new government until the party’s general convention, scheduled to be held in August. Some of the leaders are suggesting that NC does not have to take the government’s leadership, arguing that it will affect the result of the party’s leadership, that has to be elected by the convention. Other leading NC figures are demanding that the NC gets leadership of the new government, since we have already experienced two parties leadership of the government, and those were UCPN (Maoist) and CPN-UML. They are claiming that it is now the turn of the NC.

All this means that, already over a month since the extension of the term of the Constituent Assembly, not a single step of progress has been made in the Nepal Peace Process. The time limit for the formation of a consensus government looks likely to end today without success. This will leave only the possibility of another majority government to follow on from the two failed majority governments of the past two years. This leaves the future of the peace process and constitution writing very uncertain indeed.

Ambika Pokhrel, Nepal Local Correspondent, 7 July 2010

Related posts:

1. A Political Crisis in Nepal is Ahead! The political dynamic is changing everyday in Nepal. It is...
2. High Level Political Mechanism (HLPM) Formed in Nepal A ‘High Level Political Mechanism’ (HLPM) has been formed in...
3. Update on the Nepal Peace Process With the end of three-day general strike called by United...

It is very hard to wait for news when you know that something really meaningful and important is about to happen; we in Nepal experienced this last Friday, May 28 – the last day of the two-year term for the Constituent Assembly (CA). From early morning, Constituent Members were seen on the premises; they had been asked to arrive for the 8am start of the formal session. I knew that by midnight the political parties would have to take a decision had  about the term of the CA. From the morning, I was constantly checking the news and talking to people who might know more, including some members of the CA. From morning until midnight, I did not move away from the internet, phone and television for even a minute. The reason for the high tension is that the stakes are so high – there remains a really possibility of Nepal returning to violence.

Meetings and consultations between political leaders rapidly increased as the day went on. On the one hand, the Unified Communist Party of Nepal-Maoist (UCPN (M)) was sticking to its position that the Prime Minister Madhav Kumar should first step down, then the extension to the CA could be discussed. On the other hand, the Nepali Congress (NC) and the Communist Party of Nepal – Unified Marxist-Leninist (CPN-UML) were also sticking to their agendas, of some sort of package deal with some of the major issues in the peace process -such as People’s Liberation Army (PLA) integration and rehabilitation, the dissolution of the paramilitary structure of the Young Communist League (YCL), and the return of seized property. All the while, the country remained hostage to what happened in the negotiations and we lived in fear that the country could return to violence at midnight.

Prime Minister Madhav Kumar Nepal met President Dr. Ram Baran Yadav, the Home Minister and other ministers of the cabinet. Top leaders of the major political parties were engaging in last minute efforts to break the deadlock. Finally, the major three political parties had reached three-point agreements and the session of the CA began at 11.45 pm – just 15 minutes to midnight. The three-point agreements are as follows:

1. We are firmly committed to consensus and cooperation to take the peace process to a logical conclusion and to immediately complete the remaining tasks of the peace process and accomplish the historic responsibility of writing a new constitution.
2. Though significant progress has been made toward constitution drafting process, all the works have not been completed yet. So we have agreed to extend the term of the constituent assembly by one year.
3. We are ready to move ahead on the basis of consensus to accomplish the above-mentioned responsibilities and works as soon as possible by forming a national consensus government. We would like to make it clear that the prime minister of the present coalition government is ready to resign as soon as possible.

Although the time of the constituent assembly has been extended for a year, the contentious issues will still have to be addressed – both between the main political parties and those inside the CA.

The most contentious points are basically between the main political parties, the UCPN (Maoists), NC and CPN-UML, and are as follows:

1. Implementation of the past agreements basically focusing security issues: (a) integration and rehabilitation of the PLA, (b) dissolution of the paramilitary structure of the YCL and (c) democratization of the Nepal army (the really tough one);
2. Power sharing: The UCPN (Maoists) is the largest party in the CA but not in the peace process and the constituent making process. That is one of the reasons why the UCPN (Maoists) has been demanding the new national government be under its leadership.

The contentious issues inside the constituent assembly are:

1. State restructure: The model of federalism and number of the provinces for the future federal country;
2. Model of the governance: Presidential vs Prime Ministerial system;
3. System of the judiciary.

The contentious issues inside and outside of the constituent assembly have a direct impact on the peace process and have halted both constitution making process and peace process since last year.

The three-point agreement has been already misinterpreted, before the ink has even dried. Some of the leaders of NC and CPN-UML are saying that according to the three-point agreement Prime Minister will only resign after UCPN(Maoists) has implemented the other two agreements. But the UCPN(Maoists) is claiming that Prime Minister has to resign first to make way out to do other businesses. It seems that this debate is still not resolved, and although the CA will have another year to resolve such issues, the peace process and the constitution making process remains at a standstill.

Ambika Pokhrel, Nepal Local Correspondent, 1 June 2010

Related posts:

1. High Level Political Mechanism (HLPM) Formed in Nepal A ‘High Level Political Mechanism’ (HLPM) has been formed in...
2. No Hope for making the new Constitution! With only 36 days left until the deadline for a...
3. Nepal Political Deadlock Continues The High Level Political Mechanism (HLPM) has recently been addressing...

The major political parties–UCPN-Maoist, Nepali Congress and CPN-UML have all hardened their positions. They have asserted their conditions for either changing the government or for extending the Constituent Assembly term.

The CPN-UML has asserted that there are six conditions put before the UCPN-Maoist for the formation of a national consensus government, and these conditions also deserve support from the Nepali Congress (NC) party:

1. Immediate beginning of the process of integration and rehabilitation of the People’s Liberation Army (PLA – the army of CPN-M) and bringing the PLA under the control of the government’s special committee and categorizing them into separate cantonment for the purpose of integration and rehabilitation;
2. Finalizing the exact number of the PLA who want to integrate in the security forces;
3. Disbanding of the paramilitary structure of the Maoist Young Communist League (YCL);
4. Returning the seized property during the insurgency;
5. Formation of the state restructure commission, disappearance commission and truth and reconciliation commission; and
6. Finalizing the structure and power sharing of the national consensus government.

On the other hand the UCPN-Maoist has put forward two conditions before the ruling parties for extending the time of the Constituent Assembly which will expire on May 28. Those are:

1. Dissolving of the government; and
2. Returning to the politics of the consensus (amendment to the Interim Constitution replacing the current majority system with the previous consensus system for sharing power and conducting state business).

Besides asserting the conditions, the UCPN-Maoist have cancelled their planned programmes including nationwide training to the Maoist cadres from May 18 and mass meeting in Kathmandu on May 25 May. In addition to these, the party has warned that it will make public the “people’s federal democratic constitution” on May 29 on the occasion of the Republican Day.

In the light of the conditions advocated by the major political parties, it is also likely that the term of the Constituent Assembly may not be extended. This indicates the worse case scenario in which the political crisis will be deepen and the probability of returning to violence becomes higher.

In case the time of the Constituent Assembly is not extended, Nepal may become the ‘failed state’ that many people already warned about.

Ambika Pokhrel, Nepal Local Correspondent, 18 May 2010

Related posts:

1. Nepal Peace Process at a Standstill ‘Resignation of the Prime Minister’ – the much awaited demand...
2. No Hope for making the new Constitution! With only 36 days left until the deadline for a...
3. High Level Political Mechanism (HLPM) Formed in Nepal A ‘High Level Political Mechanism’ (HLPM) has been formed in...

The UCPN-M not only withdrew the general strike but indirectly claimed that the indefinite general strike had not been done the proper way or at the right time. The chairperson of the Maoist party, Prachanda, has apologized in the interaction programme with the intellectuals and the citizens of Kathmandu, especially for the speech during the strike in which the middle class people of Kathmandu were targeted, when it was stated that the “neat and clean urbanites humiliated the shabbily-dress and dirty rural folks”. The Maoists party thought that the middle class people of Kathmandu did not support to the strike and engaged to the activities to defy the strike. The party itself has realized that its popularity and support from Kathmandu has decreased.

Meetings and talks among the political parties have been resumed after the strike. Nepali Congress (NC), one of the ruling parties, is very notably holding meetings with the Maoists party at various levels, including with senior leaders.  The meetings and the talks are surrounded among the major issues –

1. extension of the Constituent Assembly term;
2. People’s Liberation Army (PLA – army of the CPN-M) integration and rehabilitation and;
3. power sharing (formation of a national consensus government).

The NC and CPN-UML are also raising other issues including dismantled of the semi-armed structure of the YCL (Young Communist League-a youth organization of the Maoists) and return of the captured properties. Meanwhile, NC has asked for a clear roadmap and plan for the PLA integration and rehabilitation to the Maoists including the number of PLA to integrate in the security forces given the two days timeframe.

However, the deadlock of the political development is not only PLA integration and rehabilitation but also down sizing and democratization of the Nepal army as laid out in the Comprehensive Peace Agreement (CPA). There are currently about one hundred thousand Nepal soldiers in Nepal. Unless these issues are solved then the constitution making process will always be in the shadows. These issues have been dominating the peace process and constitution-making process since the beginning.

It seems that the UCPN-M has shown flexibility for negotiation by calling off an indefinite general strike. The party already showed indication of flexibility for negotiation forwarding three main points:

1. YCL barracks are removed within 4-5 days;
2. those who want to integrate in the security forces and those who want to integrate in society are separated in the different camps within a month; and
3. to complete integration process within four months.

These above indicate that the UCPN-M is losing negotiation power after the recent indefinite general strike. In the mean time NC and CPN-UML are showing their willingness to negotiate to address the current political deadlock. It clearly shows that the new constitution will not be written within timeframe that is May 14. Therefore, settlement of the current political deadlock through negotiation among the political parties should be before this time.

Ambika Pokhrel, Nepal Local Correspondent, 17 May 2010

14 May 2010

Related posts:

1. Update on the Nepal Peace Process With the end of three-day general strike called by United...
2. Nepal Political Deadlock Continues The High Level Political Mechanism (HLPM) has recently been addressing...
3. Hope Diminished for Writing a New Constitution Nepal is currently in political stalemate, over three issues: civilian supremacy,...

Some legal and constitutional experts have expressed their views that extension of the CA term is unconstitutional, claiming that the CA should be automatically dissolved after May 28. While some other experts have expressed that the CA term can be extended on the ground that the mandate for CA lasts until the creation of the new constitution. However, those who are against for extending the term are not proposing any options for way out after May 28.

The provision of term of the CA in the Interim Constitution of Nepal, 2007 is:
“Unless dissolved earlier pursuant to a resolution passed by the Constituent Assembly, the term of the Constituent Assembly shall be two years after the date on which the first meeting of the Constituent Assembly is held. … … … Provided that if the making of constitution cannot be completed by the reason of the proclamation of as State of Emergency in the country, the Constituent Assembly may, by a resolution to that effect, extend its term for an additional period not exceeding six months.”

With uncertainty over whether a new constitution will exist by the May 28 deadline, the political parties have at least started listening to each other to minimize differences and to avert possible crises. The meeting of the High level Political Mechanism (HLPM), represented by the three major political parties took place on Wednesday, April 21 and agreed to move ahead with consensus and discussed the possibility of breaking the deadlock through a “package deal” of contentious issues. Proposed by the UCPN-Maoist, the package deal will incorporate all major issues associated with the peace process and the new constitution including formation of the new government, integration and rehabilitation of Maoist combatants, structure of the federation, and the forms of governance in the new constitution. The UCPN-Maoists has asserted its position that it would not agree to extend the CA term unless the current government resigned. The meeting concluded only reaching an agreement to discuss the package deal in the next meeting on Saturday, April 24.

The recent, and ongoing, armed training by the Maoists party to their cadres in different parts of the country has raised serious concern and drew criticisms In the HLPM meeting, NC and CPN-UML have demanded military training stop as a condition of discussing the package deal. Some ministers of the both parties also claimed that the training and demonstration have violated the Comprehensive Peace Agreement (CPA). Maoist leaders however said that the training is not armed but a part of regular physical exercise conducted to keep their cadres active and physically fit. The general population is also worried about the activities of the Maoists raising question about security.

In fact the Nepalese people have not in the mood to go for more elections, just two years after the last vote was held, to a CA that has yet to deliver it’s core responsibility and draft a new constitution. The people have not yet lost the hope for a logical end of the peace process even though frustration towards the political parties has been raised everyday.

Posted by Ambika Pokhrel, Local Correspondent for Nepal, 22 April 2010

Related posts:

1. A Political Crisis in Nepal is Ahead! The political dynamic is changing everyday in Nepal. It is...
2. Nepal Peace Process at a Standstill ‘Resignation of the Prime Minister’ – the much awaited demand...
3. High Level Political Mechanism (HLPM) Formed in Nepal A ‘High Level Political Mechanism’ (HLPM) has been formed in...

President of Nepali Congress (NC), and former Prime Minister, Girija Prasad Koirala passed away on 20 March 2010. The country provided full state honours for his last ritual. The country is in great sorrow and decided to mourn for three days. His death is a great loss to the democratic movement in the country since the new constitution is still to be written and the peace process has yet to complete its long journey.

The Communist Party of Nepal (Maoist) lay down weapons, sat for dialogue and signed the Comprehensive Peace Agreement (CPA) with Prime Minister G.P. Koirala. Subsequently, elections to the Constituent Assembly were successfully conducted, and, under the leadership of G.P. Koirala, the first meeting of the Constituent Assembly successfully ended 250 years of monarchy without bloodshed.

The death of the democratic leader of Nepal G.P. Koirala has raised a number of key issues in Nepalese politics, namely:

1. Leadership in High Level Political Mechanism
2. Leadership in Nepali Congress
3. Former King’s visit in “Ram-Janaki” temple and his interview
4. People’s sentiment for the peace process

The crisis of the leadership has been seen in the High Level Political Mechanism (HLPM) immediately after the demise of G.P. Koirala. The HLPM was led by G.P. Koirala, with the President of UCPN (Maoist), Puspa Kamal Dahal “Prachanda”, and Chairperson of CPN (UML), J. N. Khanal, as members. The mechanism was formed with the sole objective of building a political consensus for the peace process. After the death of G.P. Koirala, the UCPN (Maoist) party is claiming the leadership of HLPM on the ground that it is the largest party in the Constituent Assembly, while the NC party says that it should naturally inherit the position it’s president held. The CPN (UML) also claims the leadership.

NC lost a president who had held the position for more than a decade. There are three top members of the party who are each stacking their claim to inherit the presidency. Shushil Koiral is claiming that he will lead the party on the ground that he is an acting president. Another top leader Sher B. Deuba is strongly claiming the leadership of the party saying that he is the second position in the party’s hierarchy after President G.P. Koirala. Ram Chandra Poudel, a parliamentarian leader has not yet spoken out about the issue of the leadership.

Former king recently visited the “Ram-Janaki” temple at Janakpur on the occasion of the Hindu festival “Ramnawami”, (the festival is celebrated to mark the birth day of the lord Ram) and subsequently gave a short interview saying that ending of the monarchy is only hypothetical in Nepal. He further said that “people should understand that the king has to play the role of a ‘guardian’ and has to take steps in the interest of the country and people’s security”. The former king was made his visit when the President of Nepal, Mr. Ram Baran Yadav had already scheduled to visit the temple and the president had to reschedule his time to visit the temple to avoid an encounter with the former king.

People’s fears and concerns about peace process have been increased alone with the death of G.P. Koirala. The Nepalese people are very worried that the peace process may fall of the tracks with the absence of G.P. Koirala. Most of the Nepalese people think that they lost their guardian and peace process also lost its guardian. The Nepalese people offer great tribute to their tireless leader and are praying for a logical end of peace process.

Posted by Ambika Pokhrel, Local Correspondent for Nepal, 26 March 2010

Related posts:

1. High Level Political Mechanism (HLPM) Formed in Nepal A ‘High Level Political Mechanism’ (HLPM) has been formed in...
2. Hope Diminished for Writing a New Constitution Nepal is currently in political stalemate, over three issues: civilian supremacy,...
3. Nepal Political Deadlock Continues The High Level Political Mechanism (HLPM) has recently been addressing...

1. Review of past agreements
2. Building the environment of trust and confidence
3. The move of the President for restoration of the Chief of Army and subsequent political deadlock
4. Integration of People’s Liberation Army (PLA-Maoist Combatants)
5. Contentious issues in the Constituent Assembly
6. Power sharing (which indicates a change in the government).

The above critical issues have been interlinked with each other and those are the major issues for the peace process of Nepal. The HLPM is led by the President of the Nepali Congress Party G. P. Koirala in which chairperson UCPN (Maoist) Puspa Kamal Dahal “Prachand” and Chairperson of CPN-UML J. N. Khanal are members. The current political dynamics indicate that the major critical political issues including the contentious issues in the Constituent Assembly (such as state structure, governance system etc.) are going to be dealt with by the HLPM. However, institutions such as the Constitutional Committee in the Constituent Assembly will not be discussed. The Constituent Assembly remains the legitimized institution where all negotiations should take place.

Mr B. Lynn Pascoe, the Under-Secretary General for Political Affairs at the United Nations, made a short visit to Kathmandu recently. His visit happened at an interesting time when the Nepali Congress and the government are criticizing the role of the UNMIN, particularly the integration of the PLA. The government is asking UNMIN to specify the exact number of PLA Maoist combatants inside the cantonments that they are monitoring. There have been suggestions that many of the combatants have already left the cantonments and money allocated for them by the government has gone to the Party’s account – a charge the Maoists deny. The government has stopped the salary for the combatants for the last two months, arguing that the salary should be directly deposited to the combatants’ personal account.

Concluding his visit in Kathmandu, Mr Pascoe criticised the political parties for blaming the UNMIN as a way of hiding their failures to manage peace process of Nepal. Referring to a clause in the tripartite agreement between the government of Nepal, the Maoist party and UNMIN, Mr Pascoe made clear that the UNMIN cannot share information about the number of Maoist combatants inside the cantonments.

From time to time, the Nepalese army is making a political statement or taking a political stand. This time the army issued an official statement clarifying their position regarding the issue of integration of Maoists. They stated that the are against the idea of integration of the PLA on the grounds that the integration of politically indoctrinated PLA combatants to the Nepali Army may lead to disintegration of the country as well as severely damaging the “disciplined, professional, competitive and apolitical” force. However, the army also states that if the PLA combatants come on an individual basis and fulfill the standards required, there is no objection to them enlisting. Meanwhile, the UCPN (Maoist) party has seriously objected to the political statement by the military, warning that this is a conspiracy to end the peace process.

Despite the efforts of the HLPM, the current political deadlock remains. All the while, the time for making a new constitution passes by.

Ambika Pokhrel, Nepal Local Correspondent. 18 March 2010

Related posts:

1. High Level Political Mechanism (HLPM) Formed in Nepal A ‘High Level Political Mechanism’ (HLPM) has been formed in...
2. Hope Diminished for Writing a New Constitution Nepal is currently in political stalemate, over three issues: civilian supremacy,...
3. Nepal Peace Process at a Standstill ‘Resignation of the Prime Minister’ – the much awaited demand...

The High Level Political Mechanism (HPLM) was formed in the second week of January 2010 with the leaders of the major political parties of Nepal, namely the Unified Communist Party of Nepal (Maoist), the Nepali Congress (NC) and the Communist Party of Nepal Unified Marxist-Leninist (CPN-UML), to settle the political impasse and to bring the peace process and constitution writing process back on track.  Later on the HPLM decided to include other parties, mainly Madhesh based, in the process as well. However, almost all meetings and efforts of the HPLM have not been effective yet. To give an example, the only conclusion of the last meeting of the HPLM was setting a date and agenda for the next meeting.

Now that the discharging of the disqualified Maoist combatants from the cantonments has recently been completed, some fundamental questions on the issues of integration of the Maoist combatants come up again. These include:

• whether to integrate them into the Nepalese army or other security forces;
• if integration is best before the promulgation of the new constitution or afterwards;
• how many of the Maoist combatants should be integrated into the security forces.

The Maoists have consistently claimed that the integration of ex-combatants should be into the Nepalese army after the promulgation of the new constitution. The Prime Minister has proposed that 3,000 of the 19,000 combatants should be integrated into the security forces before the promulgation of the new constitution.

The Nepalese people from various fields, such as civil society, media, different professional groups, youth associations and student organisations are organizing different activities like rallies, conferences, speeches, sit-ins, fasting and the spreading posters, pamphlets and printings every day to create more pressure to write the new constitution within the given time frame. There are only 91 days left to promulgate the new constitution, and the slow progress is frustrating and worrying.

Ambika Pokhrel, Local Correspondent, 26 February 2010

Related posts:

1. High Level Political Mechanism (HLPM) Formed in Nepal A ‘High Level Political Mechanism’ (HLPM) has been formed in...
2. Nepal Political Deadlock Continues The High Level Political Mechanism (HLPM) has recently been addressing...
3. Update on the Nepal Peace Process With the end of three-day general strike called by United...

For the last 3 years, Nepalese people have been facing a severe shortages of electricity. Population growth, modernization and the concentration of people in the cities creates a high demand that cannot be met by the current very low supply. Of course, investment in hydropower is one of the most attractive sectors in Nepal, but the Maoist armed conflict and an unstable political situation in Nepal have discouraged investors from putting their capital not only into hydropower but any industries that demand large commitments. People find it difficult to secure even a small investment into micro-hydropower that requires a relatively small amount of capital. Donations and other types of taxes demanded by the Maoist party during the conflict further discouraged investment.

Besides, work in general was relatively unsafe for most people. Generally, hydropower dams need to be built in remote areas where the cardres of the Maoist party were located. Frequent strikes and bandhas (a form a protest which effectively shuts down an area for a period of time) have also been an obstacle for regularly operating any factories and industries.

The power cuts mean people have been facing many problems in their day to day life; for example they are unable to meet deadlines of any work due to power cuts. Sometimes there is no electricity at the office when I arrive and no electricity at home when I return from the office. The Nepal Electricity Authority is managing power cuts according to timetable that affects different places at different times. This demonstrates how the conflict can continue to affect day to day issues, even several years since actually fighting has ceased.

Posted by Ambika Pokhrel, Local Correspondent for Nepal, 3 February 2010

Related posts:

1. Hope Diminished for Writing a New Constitution Nepal is currently in political stalemate, over three issues: civilian supremacy,...
2. Country mourning for its tireless leader! The man who fought for six decades for democracy is...
3. High Level Political Mechanism (HLPM) Formed in Nepal A ‘High Level Political Mechanism’ (HLPM) has been formed in...

The HLPM has finalized its terms of reference (ToR), working procedures and code of conduct. The ToR state that the top leaders of other political parties will be included. This provides the Madhesh-based political parties a presence in the HLPM, and its functions will be more inclusive. The HLPM has made it clear that ending the current political deadlock is it’s top priority.

At the same time, the foreign minister is demanding her presence in the HLPM saying that she has to deal with, and brief to, the international community about the political development and peace process; arguing that this will be impossible if she is not included in the mechanism. But people have different views on her demands, they are saying that she is claiming her place in the HLPM with the green green light of her father, Girija Prasad Koirala – president of Nepali Congress (NC) and one of the members of the HLPM – rather than because her ministerial position demands it.

The Constituent Assembly has amended its schedule for the 8th time without changing the constitution promulgation date of May 2010 due to delays in the submission of the two committees’ reports. But, the CA has finally received reports from all the eleven thematic committees. One of the last reports submitted by the “State Restructure Committee” has already created debate as it has proposed the creation of 14 provinces – favouring the UCPN-M model of the state restructure. The Madhesh-based political parties have been demanding “one Madhesh one Pradesh” (one Madhesh one province) which covers the entire lowland of Nepal from the east to the west. At the same time, the Tharu, one the ethnic/indigenous communities, also mainly located in the lowland of Nepal have been demanding Tharuhot (Tharu province) with some areas of the lowland of Nepal. The Madhesh-based political parties and the Tharu have already showed their dissatisfaction and with thee process, and have said they can’t agree with the model of a future Nepal proposed by the CA State Restructure Committee which does not consider the demands of the Madhesh-based political parties and the Tharu.

Similarly, the CA committee on “Determination of Forms of the Governance of State” has failed to reach consensus on one model of governance for Nepal, even given the amount of time the committee took to finalize the report. The committee has submitted a report proposing three different models of governance to the CA. The committee has incorporated the models of governance proposed by each of the major political parties of Nepal — UCPN-M, NC and CPN-UML (both agree to the same model) and Terai Madhesh Democratic Party (TMDP). The CA members are taking their own party position in the discussion sessions over the report in the CA. This is not a good signal for the chances of consensus over the debated issues of constitution, with only 121 days left to promulgate the new constitution.

However, formation of HLPM, submission of reports of the all CA thematic committees and beginning of working by the Special Committee for the rehabilitation and reintegration of the Maoist combatants are some positive indications for writing a constitution within the given time frame.

Posted by Ambika Pokhrel, Local Correspondent for Nepal, 27 January 2010

Related posts:

1. High Level Political Mechanism (HLPM) Formed in Nepal A ‘High Level Political Mechanism’ (HLPM) has been formed in...
2. Update on the Nepal Peace Process With the end of three-day general strike called by United...
3. Nepal Political Deadlock Continues The High Level Political Mechanism (HLPM) has recently been addressing...