Nepalese Constituent Assembly - Resignation of Koirala, Madhesi Demands

Resignation of Koirala, Madhesi Demands

The Council of Ministers approved the constitutional amendment late on June 25. At a meeting of the Constituent Assembly on June 26, Koirala announced his resignation, although it will not be finalized until after the election of a President, to whom the resignation must be submitted. Although it was expected that the constitutional amendment would be approved at the same meeting, it was not introduced after Madhesi members of the Constituent Assembly demanded that the amendment be expanded to incorporate a March 2008 agreement between the Madhesis and the government that provided for Madhesi autonomy, among other things. As a result of this, the Constituent Assembly meeting was suspended until June 28. After meeting with Koirala on June 27, Hridayesh Tripathy of the Terai Madhes Loktantrik Party (TMLP) said that Koirala was in favor of incorporating the Madhesi agreement into the amendment and that he asked the Madhesis not to disrupt the Constituent Assembly again.

On June 28, the seven parties met to discuss the Madhesi demands; although no decision was reached, all of the parties opposed the Madhesi demand for a single province. The Constituent Assembly met later that day and was again disrupted by representatives of the Madhesi parties, forcing the cancellation of the meeting after only a few minutes. The next Constituent Assembly meeting on June 29 was also disrupted by the Madhesis and was cancelled. Jaya Prakash Gupta, a leading figure in the Madhesi Janadhikar Forum (MJF), also warned on June 29 that the Madhesi parties would "not only obstruct the Constituent Assembly but also paralyse the entire nation to force to meet our demands." Prachanda, in an interview on June 30, expressed frustration with the Madhesi parties' disruption, which occurred just after Koirala's resignation, when it appeared the road to forming a new government was clear. He said that he favored Madhesi autonomy, but opposed their demand for all of Terai to become one Madhesi province. Khanal, the CPN (UML) General Secretary, flatly rejected the demand for a single Madhesi province, condemning it as "a game to disintegrate the nation". He said that the demand ignored the wishes of other ethnic groups in the Terai.

The Constituent Assembly met on June 30 but was again disrupted by the Madhesis and the meeting was cancelled. The three main parties reached an agreement with the three Madhesi parties, the MJF, the TMLP, and the Nepal Sadbhavana Party, on July 1, providing for a supplementary amendment bill that would meet the Madhesi demands. Another meeting of the Constituent Assembly was disrupted by the Madhesis and aborted on July 2, while the CPN (M), Nepali Congress, and CPN (UML) met to decide the draft text of the supplementary amendment bill.

The CPN (M) and MJF met on July 3, and the CPN (M) agreed to include a reference to Madhesi autonomy in the bill, while also saying that it wanted the bill to mention other indigenous groups' desire for autonomy. 13 small parties in the Constituent Assembly said on July 3 that they were completely opposed to the Madhesi demand for a single autonomous province, and they criticized the larger parties for the political deadlock that prevented discussion of the issues from taking place in the Constituent Assembly.

Sessions of the Constituent Assembly were attempted on July 3 and July 4, but both were immediately disrupted by the Madhesi members and were aborted. On the latter occasion, Kul Bahadur Gurung, who chaired the session, urged the Madhesi members to respect the right of other members to be heard, but they ignored him. On July 4, the CPN (M), Nepali Congress, and CPN (UML) agreed on a draft supplementary amendment bill intended to satisfy the Madhesi demands. The draft requires the State Restructuring Commission to consider the March 2008 agreement between the government and the Madhesis when drawing up Nepal's federal structure. A meeting of the Seven Party Alliance followed the three-party agreement, and at this meeting, the People's Front Nepal, United Left Front, and Nepal Workers and Peasants Party objected to the draft, saying that it would endanger national unity. The cabinet approved the bill late on July 4; at the same time, it decided to nominate the 26 remaining members of the Constituent Assembly, dividing the seats between nine parties in accordance with the parties' earlier agreement and the lists of names they presented.

The Madhesi parties quickly deemed the supplementary amendment bill to be an unacceptable "betrayal". Khanal, the CPN (UML) General Secretary, said that the bill should satisfy the Madhesi demands, and he warned that opposition to the bill would not be in Madhesi interests or in the interests of any of the peoples of Terai. He called on the Madhesi members to make proposals and engage in discussion in the Constituent Assembly instead of disrupting it.

On July 6, at a meeting between the three main parties and the Madhesi parties, the former agreed to formulate a new bill to replace the one agreed upon two days prior, while the latter agreed to stop disrupting the Constituent Assembly. 23 of the 26 nominated members of the Constituent Assembly were sworn in on July 7; the remaining three were unable to attend the swearing in ceremony. On July 8, the Seven Party Alliance, with the exception of the Nepal Workers and Peasants Party, agreed on the content of a new draft bill, according to which federal structures would be created in line with the wishes of the Madhesis and other ethnic groups.

The Constituent Assembly was able to meet and function on July 9, for the first time since the Madhesis began pressing their demands on June 26. Although they did not disrupt the Constituent Assembly on this occasion, the three Madhesi parties furiously condemned the proposed bill and vowed that their struggle would continue. During the Constituent Assembly meeting, they submitted a protest notice, and when this was rejected, they chose to boycott the Constituent Assembly's proceedings. Narendra Bikram Nemwang, the Minister for Law, Justice and Parliamentary Affairs, tabled the bill regardless.

Koirala said on July 11 that forming a government was the responsibility of the CPN (M). However, the CPN (M) criticized the Nepali Congress on July 12 for "obstructing the process for the past three months". To protest the amendment bill, the Madhesi parties boycotted the Constituent Assembly meeting held on July 13, at which the amendment bill was considered. The bill was passed on the same day; 442 members of the Constituent Assembly voted for the amendment and seven voted against it. It thus became the interim constitution's Fifth Amendment. The amendment allows for the formation of a government based on a Constituent Assembly majority; it also allows the President, Vice-President, Chairman of the Constituent Assembly, and the Deputy Chairman of the Constituent Assembly to be elected by majority vote if there is no consensus. In addition, the amendment provides for the Leader of the Opposition to become a member of the Constitutional Council; however, the Constituent Assembly rejected a proposal from the cabinet that the Leader of the Opposition be included on the National Defense Council.

In a meeting with the Nepali Congress on July 14, the CPN (M) urged it to participate in the new government. A Nepali Congress leader replied that the party had still not decided whether to participate.