It has now been announced that the president will be presenting the new constitution on Sunday. It would undoubtedly have been better had the Big Three—Nepali Congress, CPN-UML—been able to bring the Madhes-based and Tharu parties on board for the constitution-drafting process. Doing so would have effectively reduced the possibility of conflict in the country.

However, 58 Constituent Assembly (CA) members from the Madhes-based parties have boycotted the CA proceedings. And, both the sides—the big three parties and Madhes-based parties—are equally responsible for this situation. The Big Three did not make genuine efforts to reach out to the agitating parties, while the Madhes-based parties unnecessarily took a rigid stance of not sitting for talks. Furthermore, some extremely violent activities in mid and western Tarai also overshadowed the political demands of the Madhes. The threats and warnings issued by some Madhesi leaders to disintegrate the country if their political demands were not fulfilled also further weakened the ongoing protests in the Madhes.

On the part of three major parties, some leaders took a very rigid position on Kailali, Jhapa, Morang and other districts which made it impossible to address the demands of Tharu and Madhes-based parties. As a result, the two parties were unable to reach consensus and Madhes-based parties and Tharus continue to protest.   

Everyone has compromised

Now the possibility of incorporating the demands of the agitating groups in the statute has already ended. Still, the constitution can be amended to incorporate the demands of the agitating parties/groups soon after its promulgation.

But it would be very unfortunate if some Madhes-based parties continue to undermine the CA stating that the constitution is only for the hill people and that the document has no ownership of the Madhes. This is because, even though some of the demands of the Madhes have not been addressed, it would be incorrect to say that the constitution is anti-Madhes. Federalism, inclusion, proportional representation and the issues related to constituency delineation were the key demands of the Madhes movement. Now that these agendas have been included in the constitution, the credit for doing so goes to the leadership of the Madhes-based parties.

The Madhes movement instituted the principle of federalism. As the new constitution has implemented it, the Madhes-based parties could protest peacefully for the kind of provinces they want in the Madhes. They should perceive the constitution as an ever evolving document instead of arguing that this is the end. Even in recent history, when the Interim Constitution 2007 was promulgated without addressing some of the key concerns of the Madhes, the statute was immediately amended after the Madhes Movement. So, the Madhes-based parties should rethink their position instead of totally rejecting this constitution.

It should learn from the UCPN (Maoist) which has 80 seats in the CA but had to abandon its key agendas such as a directly-elected president, identity-based parties, among others. The party has announced that it will continue its struggle to secure these agendas even after the promulgation of the constitution. The fourth largest party Rastriya Prajatantra Party-Nepal (RPP-N) is in CA process by expressing a note of dissent. Therefore, it is not just the Madhes-based parties but all the parties in the CA that have made compromises for the sake of the constitution. Giving a communal colour to the constitution by saying that it is a Pahade constitution will only further polarise the already fragile politics and divided society.

Not the end

The truth is that 540 lawmakers out of 598 members of the CA have supported constitution-drafting process even though the RPP-N and some fringe parties have expressed their reservations on several clauses of the constitution. The Madhesi CA members from the Nepali Congress, CPN-UML and UCPN (Maoist) also became part of the CA process despite not agreeing to everything in the statute. The Madhes-based parties should, therefore, respect the decision taken by 540 CA members elected by the people.

Despite some dissatisfactions, the promulgation of the constitution marks the end of an important aspect of Nepal’s peace process. The promulgation of the statute will complete a vital chapter in the politics of the country. But it faces many challenges for its implementation.

The first challenge will be to give a finishing touch to the federal provinces. As all three big parties have said that the proposed seven-province model of federalism is not the final version, it could be changed on the basis of the report submitted by to be formed federal commission. Finalising the remaining demarcation issues will require a long result-oriented dialogue between three parties and Madhes-based parties. It will not be possible to implement the constitution without finalising the issue of demarcation.

In addition, the election of the new president as per the new constitution will take place only after the finalisation of the demarcation of provinces and after federal provinces elect their government. According to Article 62, an electoral college, consisting of voting members of the federal parliament and members of provincial assembly shall elect the president. Similarly, it has been stated that special, protected and autonomous regions may be created for social, culture protection and development. For this to happen, there needs to be a conducive environment for holding the elections of the provincial parliaments which in turn implies that there needs to be an agreement with agitating parties/groups.

Continue the dialogues

The worry expressed by neighbouring countries and the international community that Nepal could plunge into a new round of conflict is therefore justified to an extent. However, their call for dialogue with the agitating parties has been interpreted by many to mean that they are against the CA process which is totally wrong. Such calls for talks are important as we should address the demands of Madhesis and Tharus through a dialogue.

Still, India, China, the UN, the European Union and other countries should welcome the promulgation of the constitution to clear all doubts that they are in support of the democratic CA voting process. But at the same time, they should encourage the big parties to continue to reach out to the agitating parties to find a solution through constitution amendment.  

Bhattarai is with the political desk at the Post