When the draft Interim Constitution of Nepal became public in December 2006 it prompted protests from many quarters, most notably Madeshis and Janajatis. The document was prepared by the Seven Party Alliance (SPA)and the Maoists, without broad consultations with other actors, in particular the Madhesi and other ethnic groups. Madhesi civil society groups, like the Madhesi Janadhikar Forum (MJF), the Nepal Sadbhawana Party (NSP) as well as Madhesi parliamentarians across party lines demanded explicit commitment to federalism, an electoral system which would have had a greater percentage of seats allocated on the basis of proportional representation and redrawn electoral boundaries. This would, in their view, have been a more equitable system.Despite the objections, the Interim Constitution was passed by the legislature‐parliament on January 15, 2007. Immediately, the MJF and the NSP organised protests demanding the amendment of the Interim Constitution and the establishment of the entire Tarai as one single province. The protests quickly spread across the Tarai and turned violent in many places.In response to the protests, then Prime Minister G P Koirala appeared on TV and addressed the nation twice, on January 31st and on February 7th, 2007. He guaranteed federalism, a redrawing of electoral boundaries again based on population, and the representation of Madhesis and other minority groups in elected bodies and other state organs. Protests and violence persisted and only died down after the legislature‐parliament passed the 1st amendment to the Interim Constitution on 12 April 2007. The amendment calls for the State to be ”democratic and federal”, but there
was no clear commitment to ‘One Madesh’. After recurrent protests from January 2007 to February 2008, numerous agreements were signed between the Government of Nepal and Madhesi and other agitating ethnic groups, which assured a mixed system of elections and assured a federal republic through constitutional amendments. On the one hand, these agreements helped create the political climate necessary for elections, which, in the face of such concerted Madeshi protests, might otherwise have been postponed indefinitely.
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Publisher:
UNRCHCO
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(2012
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Type / Script:
Bulletin or Poster
in English
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Keywords:
INTERIM CONSTITUTION, FEDERAL REPUBLIC, INDIGENOUS, DISCOURSE, ETHNIC GROUP, ETHNICITY, DEMOGRAPHY, SOCIAL GROUPS, CONSTITUTIONAL AMENDMENTS, CIVIL SOCIETY, COMMUNITY SERVICE, VIOLENCE
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Thematic Group:
UNRCHCO (UNRCO)
:
UN Resident Coordinator and Humanitarian Coordinator Office (UN Resident Coordinator Office)
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Thesaurus:
08.01.00
- Population Dynamics
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Reference Link:
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