Way forward

Constitution for shared prosperity

After more than six decades of struggle, our country is all set to promulgate the new constitution on Sunday. This marks the end of our long transition and will help the country usher into a new era. The new constitution is a document of political compromise, and some groups are not happy with the final outcome. The major political parties are still working to accommodate the demands of Madheshi parties into the new constitution before Sunday. We have always stated the need for maximum possible flexibility on all sides to end our ongoing political ambiguity and move towards economic development.The journey to this finale was not easy. We saw two elections of the Constituent Assembly. The major parties clashed, both inside and outside the Assembly. Almost all our development dreams were put off to bring out this document. People were repeatedly told to wait for the constitution in order to begin our golden age of prosperity. As we now close this long chapter of political uncertainty, people have high expectations of rapid economic progress.

We will now be a federal democratic country with seven provinces. But we have yet to decide on the distribution of resources, and this is not going to be a difficult process. Many countries, including our neighbor India, are still struggling to settle issues of resource distribution even after having practiced federal system of governance for many years. It is important for us to learn from other countries, and begin working out a fair and equitable distribution of resources so that all seven provinces have a shot at decent economic growth. We will have gauge our reality and take into account of geography, culture, population and other parameters while distributing resources among the seven provinces.

The new constitution will excite our market; encourage foreign and domestic investors to invest here. This will only be possible if our federal, state and local governments work in close cooperation with businesses and people. Among others, people want affordable schools, accessible healthcare and economic opportunities. And if our country fails in creating conducive environment for businesses, we will continue to see our young and educated population leaving the country for better opportunities elsewhere. We cannot depend upon remittances to sustain our economy forever. Our market has to create jobs, and for that to happen, we must, among other things, upgrade and build highways, railways and airports at the earliest.

We welcome the new constitution with much excitement. The document is not set in stone. There will be many amendments as we move forward as a country. Our democracy has always opted for dialogues over violence to resolve difficult issues. We are still hopeful that the Madheshi parties will come to embrace the new constitution and see the document as their own. We also want to see further cooperation among the major political parties to implement the new constitution. Once this political process is over, we must focus on accelerating our economic development for shared prosperity.

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