A leap forward

The six-state deal

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Saturday midnight's deal amongNepali Congress, CPN-UML, UCPN (Maoist), and Madheshi People's Right Forum (Democratic)—which among other things resolves province demarcation—is a step towards the right direction. We support this development and urge political leadership to expedite constitution process without any delay, not because the deal—like other deals of the past—is flawless but because parties to the Constituent Assembly were highly unlikely to come to any arrangement absolutely agreeable to all, given multiple stakeholders and their various interests in statute process. There are a good number of positives in the fresh agreement. First, six province model has clearly demarcated boundaries between states and is in line with demand for fewer provinces, stretching north to south (four provinces border both China and India). The people had expressed views in favor of fewer provinces during people's feedback collection campaign. Two, the new deal has rectified flaws pointed out by various stakeholders in the draft constitution. Four parties have agreed on a provision for a Nepali mother 'or' father to pass on citizenship to their children—the major demand of Madhesh based parties and women rights activists. "And" provision of the draft constitution had triggered disputes among activists. Besides the provision of either President or Vice President having to represent different gender or community, "complete" press freedom will be enshrined in the statute. These are welcome changes.

Be that as it may, there are voices of dissent already. Members of UCPN (Maoist) and MPRF (D)—two signatories to the deal—have registered note of dissent. Baglung witnessed shutdown on Sunday protesting split of the district into state four and five. Even senior Nepali Congress leader Sher Bahadur Deuba has spoken against this decision. It is extremely likely that dissents will be heard from Nawalparasi and Rukum—two other districts that have suffered a split in six-state model—in the days ahead. Madheshi forces have warned of fresh agitation. Let us be pragmatic. Federalism has now become an emotional issue—with no group or community ready to let go of the territory they have inhabited since time immemorial to another province. Provincial delineation can hardly ever be settled to the satisfaction of all. If Madhesh is made into two east-west provinces, as demanded by Madheshi forces, the far-west would erupt in protest. A hard compromise was necessary. We have reached this point after endless meetings, cross-party negotiations and a number of deliberations since the 2006 Comprehensive Peace Agreement. This journey cannot be continued eternally.

Saturday's development is a leap forward towards constitution making. The road ahead is clear. It takes us closer than ever before to the Constitution. Constituent Assembly's Constitutional Political Dialogue and Consensus Committee will table the deal at the CA for deliberation, which, after deliberation process, will be forwarded to the Constitution Drafting Committee (CDC) for preparing the final draft. When the CDC converts it into the Constitution Bill and the CA votes on it, Nepal's journey to constitution will be complete. Meanwhile, the big parties will have to take every possible measure to take disgruntled forces into confidence to garner maximum possible consensus. At the same time, dissenting parties should also realize that constitution is not set in stone. There always is a room for amendment when the likeminded forces have the required majority in the parliament. Unnecessary delay in constitution process has already frustrated Nepalis. This process must reach a logical conclusion at the earliest. Now is the time.