AFP/Kathmandu
Nepal’s parliament speaker called an emergency meeting of top leaders yesterday in a last-ditch push for agreement on a constitution before a midnight deadline that they look almost certain to miss.
Subash Nembang urged lawmakers to work together to bring the long-delayed process of drawing up a new national charter to a close, after a chaotic week that saw violence both in parliament and on the streets.
“The country is watching us... what kind of message are we giving?” said Nembang after opposition lawmakers staged a noisy protest to prevent the House from voting on disputed issues.
“Let us talk... let us work together and conclude the process.”
Nembang called party leaders to a private meeting, the first since Tuesday’s scuffle, Pradeep Gyawali, spokesman for the ruling UML party, told AFP.
Nepal’s rival parties have for years been trying to reach agreement on a new constitution for the young republic.
Analysts say the protracted stalemate raises the risk of unrest in the impoverished Himalayan nation, where lawmakers this week threw chairs and scuffled in parliament as tempers frayed.
The constitution was intended to conclude a peace process begun in 2006 when Maoist guerrillas entered politics, ending a decade-long insurgency that left an estimated 16,000 people dead.
Six prime ministers and two elections later, discord between the opposition Maoists and ruling parties has intensified, paralysing the drafting process.
As parliament opened yesterday, Maoist lawmakers chanted slogans and rushed into the well of the hall, in a chaotic bid to prevent ruling party politicians from proposing a vote on disputed issues in the constitution.
Authorities have deployed 1,000 police to guard the building after the violence this week spilled over onto the streets and yesterday 2,000 flag-waving protesters demonstrated outside.
“We have waited so many years, we are tired of these leaders,” said Kathmandu-based trader Niraj Shrestha, reflecting a growing sense of frustration over the delayed charter.
“If our lawmakers want to, they can draft the constitution in 24 hours, but I don’t think even another 24 years will make a difference to their way of functioning,” the 39-year-old told AFP.
Hours before parliament opened, former Maoist premier Baburam Bhattarai urged lawmakers to “commit to drafting a constitution based on common agreement”.
“Only a constitution based on consensus will ensure long-term peace in the country”, he wrote in a message on his official Facebook page.
A key sticking point concerns internal borders, with the opposition pushing for provinces to be created along lines that could favour historically marginalised communities.
Other parties have attacked this model, calling it too divisive and a threat to national unity.
The ruling parties and their allies have the two-thirds parliamentary majority they need to approve a constitution without Maoist support.
But the former insurgents have warned of further conflict if they fail to take opposition views into account.
A missed deadline will prolong instability in a country where one out of four people survive on less than $1.25 a day, according to World Bank data.
Several lawmakers from the ruling coalition told AFP that a vote was the only way forward, after a string of missed deadlines. But analysts say such measures would alienate marginalised communities and spell disaster for the country.
“A constitution achieved with only minimum consensus will have no scope of success,” said Lok Raj Baral, executive chairman of the Nepal Centre for Contemporary Studies.
“Both sides need to realise that a compromise formula is the only way out,” Baral told AFP.
As the deadline approached, senior Maoist leader Narayan Kaji Shrestha told AFP he saw almost no chance of an immediate agreement.
“We were hoping to at least complete a draft constitution but even that hasn’t happened,” Shrestha said.
“We cannot wait three more years, the people won’t forgive us.”
Nepal security forces were bolstered throughout the capital Thursday, the day of the latest deadline for promulgating a new constitution.
More than four hundred security personnel were deployed outside the Constituent Assembly Hall in Kathmandu.
Security was also being increased at the airport, in the border areas, and in all 75 districts where unrest was expected, police said.
On Wednesday, members of various political parties, communities and professional organisations demonstrated in the capital, insisting that the constitution be completed on time.
Security personnel try to control constitution assembly members as they take part in a protest inside the parliament.
