Efter 2 1/2 år er det ikke lykkedes den grundlovgivende forsamling i Nepal at skabe en ny forfatning. Deadline er i maj 2011, så den ny forfatning kan danne grundlag for valg i 2012. Et valg, der anses for afgørende for at afrunde fredsprocessen efter 10 års borgerkrig.
Nepal is ill-prepared for the next general election, the date of which is still uncertain and dependent on a new constitution being ratified, experts say.
The Constituent Assembly (CA) – elected more than two and a half years ago – is due to draft and ratify a new constitution by May 2011 in the hope that elections can be held sometime in 2012, but such deadlines have come and gone before – for example, in May 2010.
– The elections are key to complete the peace process, and the country’s political stability depends on it, Shashi Upadhaya, a senior official from NGO General Election Observation Committee, told IRIN.
More than 13,000 people lost their lives during the 1996-2006 conflict between Maoist and government forces. Since then, Nepal has had a string of prime ministers – all of whom have failed to deliver political stability, threatening the country’s fragile peace.
– The likelihood of a new constitution being drafted by 28 May 2011 is slimming fast. Any extension of the CA’s tenure, ironically, stands to further the chance of a better-managed election, said Sagar Prasai, deputy country representative of the Asia Foundation in Nepal.
– The extreme case can be that the CA is dissolved without a new constitution. I am not sure on what basis the elections would then take place. The parties would then need to forge a consensus on the electoral system to be applied, said Leena Rekkila Tamang, head of the Nepal mission for the International Institute for Democracy and Electoral Assistance (IDEA).
