Op-ed pages of broadsheet dailies published in Kathmandu on Friday have given space to a host of issues including the implementation of the constitution, and the ruling alliance’s bid to amend the constitution.
The amendment of the constitution
The ruling coalition’s bid to amend the constitution to address the demands of the Madheshi Morcha has failed as Parliament shot down a key earlier this week. In this context, commentator CK Lal, in his lead article for Nagarik, says that with the failure of the amendment process, the last opportunity to take respectably incorporate the aspirations of political groups that have not yet accepted the constitution has been missed. The constitution has now been limited to a statute meant for running the affairs of the state. Although this does not possess immediate danger, in the long run this could push Nepal towards failure, he adds.
Quoting from the seminal book Why Nations Fail?, Lal says that instability and underdevelopment are not results of poor policy choices, but of incentives created by the structures of the society.
He concludes by saying that although Nepal has all the ingredients needed for a state to fail, foreign soldiers have not set foot on the country, the way they have in Afghanistan, although state-sponsored violence is on the rise, it hasn’t suffered from civil war like the one in Haiti. He says that Nepal has not collapsed because of geo-political reasons. Although this might help Nepal remain afloat for a long time, it will not do so in the long run. That is why Nepalis need to promote internal unity to make the country more sovereign and independent.
The deadline looms
Nepal’s constitution says that the ‘transformed’ Parliament will cease to exist after January 21, 2018. That is why it is necessary for a new Parliament to take over before the deadline. In this context, Bhimarjun Acharya, in his piece for Annapurna Post, says it would have been better if the government first conducted parliamentary elections, and then the provincial elections. He argues that provincial elections can be held even after January 21. Acharya says there are many constitutional issues that needs to be resolved before provincial elections can take place. The constitution is not clear about the distribution of power and that my invite conflict between the local levels and the provinces, Acharya says. He adds that the constitution is meant to further the interests of the people and the country, and it is not the other way round.
Who is responsible for the failure of the amendment?
Tula Narayan Shah, in his piece for Kantipur, says the Madheshi parties’ failure to completely disown the constitution sowed the seeds for the failure of the amendment motion. He says that instead of cosying with the Nepali Congress, the Morcha should have maintained equal distance with all political parities as the amendment they demand is no ordinary one. They are demanding changes to the fundamentals of the constitution.
Shah says the Doklam standoff between China and India has also had implications on India’s attitude towards the Madheshis. He argues that partly due to the standoff, India is giving priority to the Congress-Maoist alliance. It is worth noting that the Madheshi Morcha decided to contest elections, just after Indian EAM Sushma Swaraj returned home from Kathmandu.
He says that although Deuba and the Madheshi leaders knew well that the amendment was going to fail, they went ahead because the Prime Minister wanted to show Delhi he was working on the amendment, and the Madheshis wanted to prove that the UML is anti-Madheshi, just ahead of the elections.
Shah says the whole Madheshi movement has now taken the colours of ‘Sadhbhawana’, a political party that was born out of a movement, but later got engrossed in dirty politics. It even tried to commit suicide, but it has been put on life support. Shah says Madheshi movement today is on similar life support.
