Amending the constitution in order to address the concerns of the Madhesi parties has been a stated priority for the government since it came to power over three months ago. However, there have been major difficulties in this process. It is only over the past few days that the government has drafted a constitutional amendment, which they hope will be accepted by the Madhesi leadership.

Most of the provisions in the amendment draft are uncontroversial. Some of the provisions merely restore provisions that already existed in the Interim Constitution of 2007. For example, the Interim Constitution allowed naturalised citizens to occupy senior constitutional positions, but the 2015 constitution changed this so that only citizens by descent could do so. The amendment proposal now makes naturalised citizens eligible for such positions, provided they have resided in Nepal for 10 years.

Similarly, the Interim Constitution had stated that the principle of proportional inclusion would be followed while appointing members of marginalised groups to state organs. The 2015 constitution removed the word ‘proportional’, but the amendment draft proposes to restore it. The ruling parties have also tried to address the Madhesi demand that Hindi should be a national language, by proposing that the Language Commission will deal with this issue. 

The question of federalism remains the most sensitive of issues, and the manner it has been dealt with in the amendment proposal will likely arouse the most discussion. The ruling parties have proposed to separate the hill and Tarai districts of Province 5 to create two provinces. This provision will likely be accepted by the Madhesi parties. More controversially, the parties have proposed to form a Federal Border Delineation Commission, which will offer recommendations on how to delineate borders between Provinces 1 and 2, as well as between Provinces 5 and 6 (in other words, on how to deal with Kanchanpur, Kailali, Morang, Jhapa and Sunsari districts).

The Madhesi parties have previously opposed all attempts to postpone addressing such concerns to the future. They fear that postponement will mean that no change will happen, and are keen to have provincial borders finalised as part of the amendment.

We hope that both the ruling and Madhesi parties reach an amicable settlement this time around. Prolonging the issue will only be detrimental to the nation as a whole. The Madhesi parties should demonstrate more flexibility than they have so far. For their part, the ruling parties should offer certain guarantees. For example, they should promise that they will accept the recommendations of a Federal Border Delineation Commission even if it is not to the liking of members of the UML, the NC or the Maoist parties. The refusal of the ruling parties to accept recommendations by commissions in the past has been a major reason why Madhesi groups have been suspicious of them. An unconditional commitment to accept the recommendations of the commission could help build trust.