World
One year on
Twelve months after constitution’s promulgation, there hasn’t been much progress in negotiationsPrime Minister Pushpa Kamal Dahal was warmly welcomed in Delhi, partly because he promised he would take the grievances of the Madhesi population into account and reach an agreement on a constitution amendment.
That is not going to be easy. Members of the prime minister’s party state that a constitution amendment proposal will be tabled in Parliament by Dashain. The Nepali Congress, the other major party in government, has provided similar assurances, stating that it is willing to adopt maximum flexibility in negotiations with the Madhesi parties.
But it has been almost two months since the new government came to power, and there is no indication that a constitution amendment will be passed anytime soon. The assurances of the ruling parties have been well intentioned, but how far they will be able to move is still vague.
The fact of the matter is that there will be no constitutional amendment until the parties reach an agreement on the federal structure. And there can be no agreement on the revision of provincial boundaries until either side is willing to compromise. So far, neither the government nor the Madhesi parties have demonstrated a desire to compromise. The government states that it is willing to separate the hill and Tarai regions of Province 5. But this is a minor issue.
The more important issue regards Kanchanpur and Kailali in the Far West and Jhapa, Morang and Sunsari in the East. The Madhesi parties demand that at least a portion of these districts be incorporated into horizontal provinces where Tharus (in the West) and Madhesis (in the East) have a demographic advantage. The ruling parties do not seem to give in to the demand.
In fact, when this question came up last year during the earlier negotiations over the constitution, some of the most strident objections came from members of the parties that are leading the government now. For
example, the Maoist Centre’s Lekhraj Bhatta and the NC’s Sher Bahadur Deuba, both from the Far West, opposed the incorporation of any part of Kanchanpur and Kailali into a Tharu-majority province.
Similarly, the NC’s Krishna Sitaula, among others, opposed the incorporation of any part of Jhapa, Morang or Sunsari into the Madhesi-majority province in the East.
A lot has transpired over the past year. There were major protests in the Tarai. As many as 52 people, including 11 security personnel, were killed in those protests, according to the Ministry of Home Affairs. (The Samyukta Loktantrik Madhesi Morcha claims that almost 70 protesters died.) Then there was the blockade that caused widespread suffering.
Yet, the negotiations between the government and the Madhesi parties are almost exactly where they were when the constitution was promulgated last year.
This is unfortunate. The failure to reach an agreement on constitution amendment will have serious consequences. This will make it difficult to hold any kind of election in the near future. A constitutional crisis could emerge. The parties should take immediate steps to prevent such a scenario from arising before it is too late.