Iagttager advarer om, at en ny forfatning, der skal forvandle Nepal fra monarki til en føderal stat, øger risikoen for splittelse mellem landets etniske grupper.
KATHMANDU, 25 May 2012 (IRIN) – Just days before Nepal’s Constituent Assembly (CA) reaches its fifth deadline to agree on a new constitution on 27 May, the country remains divided over the issue of federalism.
“Debates over federalism and identity threaten to polarize Nepali society,” said Anagha Neelakantan, South Asia senior analyst for the conflict resolution NGO, International Crisis Group.
“At the same time, politics and the constitution-writing process are at an impasse, and a constitutional crisis is possible.”
Without effective government
The 600-member CA, which also acts as the country’s interim legislature, was tasked in 2008 with drafting the next constitution after a decade-long civil war between Maoist forces and the government ended in 2006.
Over 13,000 people lost their lives in the conflict and the nation of 30 million has been without an effective government since then.
Hurried decision
On 15 May, the CA leaders made a hurried decision to restructure the former Hindu monarchy into 11 federal states, based on “multi-ethnic federalism”, meaning all ethnic groups, not just one ethnic group, would live in a single undivided state.
This rather than “identity and capacity based federalism”, in which a single ethnic group and its ability to be self-sustaining, along with geographical and economic considerations, would be the model used.
Rejected by Supreme Court
Unable to reach an agreement, the CA requested another three-month extension, but this was rejected by the Supreme Court on 24 May, which directed the government to promulgate a new constitution by the 27 May deadline.
“The proposal for 11 federal provinces was done haphazardly, with no names and without any principles,” said Prof Krishna Hachhethu, a prominent expert on federalism at Tribhuvan University, the country’s largest tertiary institution.
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