By Yuba Raj Ghimire
Why Nepal’s people and legislators feel
they have been betrayed
All legislators in Nepal had
strict instructions from their respective parties to be present in the
Constituent Assembly (CA) building before 11 am on May 27. They had been told
it was a “history-making” day, and they were the makers of it. But in the next
12 hours, they realised they had been fooled by their party bosses. The House
did not meet, and the members dispersed stripped of their membership. They got
to know from Prime Minister Baburam Bhattarai’s televised address that top
leaders of the big four parties had failed to arrive at a consensus on
contentious issues, including the basis of federalism. With the chances of
constitution-delivery within the midnight deadline impossible, Bhattarai
recommended fresh polls on November 22.
The inglorious demise of the CA,
which entailed nearly 10 billion rupees (INR 6 billion) and four years in the
life of a nation, came as a rude shock to them. All that leaders, including
Bhattarai, did was “apologise” for the failure, blaming others. The
international community responded with disappointment. UN Secretary General Ban
Ki-moon said, “The work of constitution-making should resume without delay,
building on what has so far been achieved, and the appropriate legitimate and
representative mechanism for this should be found through consensus.”
India, which played a role in
bringing the current political actors together, did not conceal its
frustration. But New Delhi still encouraged the
parties to be guided by the spirit of consensus and peaceful dialogue in their
efforts to “transform Nepal
into a stable, democratic and prosperous nation”. India
“promised” to stand ready to assist Nepal
according to “the wishes of the people of Nepal”. Avoiding the mention of
“leaders”, unlike in the past, was significant.
The world’s frustration with the
big four parties — the Nepali Congress (NC), the Unified Communist Party of
Nepal-Maoist (UCPN-M), the Communist Party of Nepal-Unified Marxist Leninist
(CPN-UML) and the United Democratic Madhesi Front (UDMF) — is natural as they
had monopolised the political process for six years. The CA was kept idle and
given no agenda to work on.
The big four parties’ failure to
arrive at a consensus on federalism was advanced by the Maoists as the only
reason for the demise of the House. But apparently there were multiple reasons.
Till the last minute, they were divided evenon the words of the preamble.
The Madhesi parties, which
initially demanded a single province incorporating about 18 per cent of the
total territory and 48 per cent of the population, were not ready to concede
more than two provinces in the “Madhes region” and fell out with the NC and
CPN-UML which suggested at least five provinces in the plains. The past few weeks
also saw a spate of protests against ethnic provinces on a scale difficult to
ignore. They petitioned the UN office, and spoke openly against international
donors for having “funded” and encouraged caste and ethnic groups aimed at
“fragmenting Nepal”.
It was perhaps because of this involvement that the international community
failed to make a fair assessment of where Nepal’s politics and
constitution-making were headed until the last minute.
For the Nepalese, the emerging
situation is both a challenge and an opportunity. The big four parties were not
only monopolising the political process but also ruthlessly denying any role to
wider sections of people that favoured reconciliation between past regimes and
radical pro-change elements, and that wanted adherence to due process in
constitution-making. All this while, the real agenda was decided behind closed
doors, without transparency, and the people, the CA included, were given no
role. Nor did the major agreements, except the Comprehensive Peace Agreement,
ever become part of the constitution-making process. Nepal’s major media and civil
society kept their eyes shut even when aberrations and inadequacies were clear.
Whether fresh polls will take
place for yet another CA is doubtful. But genuinely pursuing a politics of
reconciliation, and involving every section of society that has been denied
space in the last four years, will be the real way to a course correction.
Courtesy: Indian Express
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