Distrust runs deep among Nepal’s three biggest political parties. Negotiations broke down after the rival parties could not agree on the federalist structure for the government

KATMANDU, Nepal — Nepal descended into a new crisis on Sunday after rival political parties in the Himalayan nation failed to reach an agreement on a new constitution before the national legislature’s term expired at midnight.

Prime Minister Baburam Bhattarai, speaking on national television, announced that the legislature, known as the Constituent Assembly, would be dissolved. He said he would remain in power and that his government would hold November elections for a new assembly. Rival political leaders quickly denounced the plan as a power grab.

“Political consensus is still needed to move ahead,” Mr. Bhattarai said in his address, just before midnight. Describing himself as “saddened” and “dejected,” the prime minister added: “Let us learn from mistakes and move ahead.”

The development on Sunday is yet another setback in Nepal’s long and often torturous transition from monarchy to democratic republic. The country suffered a decade-long guerrilla war by Maoist rebels that ended in 2006 when the Maoists agreed to put down their arms and join the democratic political process. The Constituent Assembly was elected to a two-year term in 2008, but that term was extended again and again after rival political parties failed to cut a deal on a new constitution.

This time, Nepal’s Supreme Court ruled that the term could not be extended. Mr. Bhattarai, who is a member of the Maoist party, said his decision to hold elections in November was consistent with options outlined by the Supreme Court, in case the deadline was missed. But other political leaders blasted the decision, saying that the prime minister should have followed a different option, under which the Constituent Assembly would be allowed to become a parliament that could continue to try to hammer out a constitutional deal.

 “It is a well-planned conspiracy,” said Gagan Thapa, a leader of the Nepali Congress Party. Early Monday morning, four political parties called for the prime minister to step down.

Distrust runs deep among Nepal’s three biggest political parties: the Maoists, the Nepali Congress and the Communist Party of Nepal (Unified Marxist-Leninist). On Sunday, negotiations broke down after the rival parties could not agree on the federalist structure for the government under the new constitution.

Two weeks ago, the three parties and the Madhesi alliance, a group of parties from the region along the Indian border, had agreed to create states whose borders would be designed to include members of different ethnic groups. However, the Maoists later withdrew from the deal following opposition from indigenous groups and some of the smaller Madhesi parties.

These smaller parties want boundaries in which states would be based on ethnicity, ensuring that minorities would be able to accumulate greater political power by forming a majority in certain states. Opponents of this idea argued that such a structure would only perpetuate and deepen ethnic divisions in the country.

The issue of ethnic states has sparked protests and violence across Nepal in recent weeks. On Sunday, as political leaders were gathered inside the prime minister’s residence, people rallied outside, chanting slogans for and against ethnic-based federalism. Roads near the Constituent Assembly building were filled with people singing or dancing, as different sides tried to rally support.

“There should be a federalism based on single ethnic identity,” said Rohit Limbu, 25, a student with a red band around his head, who attended a mass gathering organized by ethnic groups.

Yet not far away, people at a different rally waved national flags and warned that dividing the country by ethnicity would incite tension and undermine the ethnic tranquility that has long prevailed in Nepal.

“We do not want a constitution that upholds ethnic-based federalism,” said Suresh Karki, 35, a businessman. “We want good will in society.”

The continued political instability in Nepal will only worsen the situation in a tiny country pinned between China and India. Power failures have become common, while the economy has been battered because of the country’s political uncertainty.

From The New York Times, May 27, 2012 

 
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