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Inter-ethnic/State Relations – 2011

The CA failed again to deliver the draft constitution by the 28 May 2011 deadline. The term of the CA, then, was extended by 3 months. After the extension of the CA tenure, the three major political parties agreed to establish a State Restructuring Commission. This group is expected to recommend a viable model for the federal provinces in Nepal to the Constituent Assembly. Yet the Madesh-based political parties opposed the formation of the commission.¹ The Madesh demanded that the restructuring of the state be dealt with by a sub-committee headed by the CPNU-Maoist leader Puspa Kamal Dahal. The reason they favored this specific leader is because the Maoists were responsive to their demands.²

At present, the commission has not been established and the efforts to promote inter-ethnic relations have yet to materialize in 2011. The Madesh parties wanted to scrap the constitutional provision of establishing the State Restructuring Commission and the Maoists were not opposed to that. On 28 August the Maoist party and the United Democratic Front of Madesh parties, (UDMF) made a four-point deal, which among other things included provisions to bypass the formation of the State Restructuring Commission, to form a coalition government. The government was formed on August 28.³ Any constitutional amendments, however, require a two-third majority. This, however, does not mean that progress has been at a standstill. Achievements, in terms of providing greater opportunity for ethnic minorities in the governance structure have been made. In the Constituent Assembly, the previously excluded caste and ethnic groups were represented through the quota system. Accordingly, Dalits hold 13% of the seats, oppressed caste/indigenous groups hold 37.8%, the Madeshi hold 31.2%, other groups hold another 30%, while backward regions hold 4% seats.⁴

On 1 November 2011, major political parties (Nepali Congress, Communist Party of Nepal-United Marxist and Leninists, Communist Party of Nepal- United Maoist and Samyukta Loktantrik Madhesi Morcha) reached a 7-point agreement on army integration, constitution drafting and a power-sharing government. According to the accord, the parties agreed to form an expert panel from the CA instead of the Constitutional Commission on State Restructuring.⁵ Nevertheless, the constitutional amendment requiring the formation of an expertsÕ panel could not materialize because of differences with the CPN-UML and Nepali Congress.⁶ After failure to amend the constitution for the formation of an expertsÕ panel, the main political parties who were signatories of the 7-point accord forged a consensus on 22 November 2011 to form the State Restructuring Commission (SRC) without a Chairman for a time being. On 22 November 2011, an eight-member SRC was formed.⁷

1. “Big Three agree to form State Restructuring Commission,” My Republica, May 30, 2011.
2. “Madesh-based parties against formation of state restructuring commission,” Republica, August 23, 2011.
3. Republica, August 29, 2011.
4. “Nepal Human Development Report 2009-State Transformation and Human Development,” UNDP, 2009.
5. “Parties join hands on peace process,” Kathmandu Post, November 2, 2011.
6. “State Restructuring: Dispute delays statute amendment,” Kathmandu Post, November 17, 2011.
7. “STATE RESTRUCTURING: Commission takes shape, finally,” Kathmandu Post, November 23, 2011.