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Nepal: In Perpetual Transition: CHINESE INTERESTS WORRISOME, By Obja Borah Hazarika, 10 Oct, 2012 Print E-mail

Round The World

New Delhi, 10 October 2012

Nepal: In Perpetual Transition

CHINESE INTERESTS WORRISOME

By Obja Borah Hazarika

Research Scholar, School of International Studies (JNU)

 

Nepal’s domestic political situation is a never-ending transitional stage. Since 2008, Parties have engaged in unproductive arguments about ways to resolve the issue of drafting the Constitution. Wherein, intermittent steps and incremental advances in the positive direction have only been met with collapses and relapses of cooperative efforts by the stakeholders. Thus, despite several extensions, the Constituent Assembly (CA) whose term expired on 27 May was unable to draft and pass a Constitution.

Importantly, though most of the Statute’s drafting was complete, irreconcilable differences among Parties on several issues over the Constitution persisted. In fact, four important Parties, Unified Communist Party of Nepal (Maoist), Nepali Congress (NC), Communist Party of Nepal (Unified Marxist Leninist), and United Democratic Madhesi Front (UDMF), agreed to hold fresh elections to create a new CA to resolve contentious constitutional issues last month.

However, fresh disagreements over the proposed CA’s leadership broke out between the Parties. The NC Party maintains that they should lead the new Government as both the UCPN (M) and CPN-UML have already led the Government twice after the 2008 CA elections. While Unified CPN-Maoist Politburo Member Haribol Gajurel said Pushpa Kamal Dahal would lead the CA.   

 

There is speculation that a non-partisan figure, a former Chief Justice or civil society leader, might lead the election Government. Predictably, the jostling over the proposed CA’s leadership has led to another political impasse.

 

Adding to the political chaos is China’s involvement in Nepal’s domestic politics. Beijing’s interest in Nepal had hitherto been mostly limited to economic matters. But, now China has increased its engagement with Nepal and made clear its views on the direction of Kathmandu’s political transition that it preferred.

 

Significantly, China has sought to influence the issue of federalism in Nepal. The previous CA could not decide whether a unitary or a federal form of Government would best suit the Himalayan kingdom. Visiting Chinese leaders have communicated to Kathmandu its preference for a unitary form of Government. Also, Beijing has articulated that if federalism is to be adopted it should not be based on ethnicity.

 

Beijing’s insistence on a unitary form of Government could be due to apprehensions of having to deal with multiple centres of power some of which could be sympathetic to Tibet’s cause and in turn become footholds for fuelling greater dissidence to its restive Tibet region.

 

China’s fears could have also risen due to speculation of foreign hands having greater leverage in case multiple power centres emerge in Nepal. A federal political structure could render the Madhesis powerful in some provinces which Beijing may have calculated as amounting to greater Indian influence in Nepal due to the perceived New Delhi connection to Madhesis.

 

Undeniably, India has so far refrained from meddling in Nepal’s unfolding political process. However, greater Chinese interest in Nepal will not go unnoticed by New Delhi. With Beijing extending its aid and development in the Himalayan kingdom and its newfound penchant to direct it on the type of Government it should choose, New Delhi will have to formulate its response in a commensurate manner.

 

Besides, India should not allow China’s leverage to grow in Nepal; not least of all to prevent the next Government there to be nothing but a Chinese design. New Delhi is also worried about growing anti-India sentiment in Nepal.

 

In the latest round of India-bashing,  the Nepal Communist Party Maoist (CPN-Maoist) head Mohan Vaidya Kiran, which split from the ruling Unified Communist Party of Nepal (Maoist) in June, accused India of interfering in Nepal politics, and demanded scraping all treaties signed with India, including the 1950 Nepal-India Peace and Friendship Treaty. The Party also launched a movement against the plying of vehicles bearing Indian registration numbers, screening of Hindi movies and broadcast of Hindi songs in Nepal last month.

 

These may be efforts by the Party to play the nationalism card to boost its ratings at a time when the country is witnessing a Constitutional crisis. Additionally, fears of cultural usurpation or Chinese pressure could have driven it to announce this ban.

 

Pertinently, the ban on films and songs evoked reactions from the Madhesis based Parties of the Hindi speaking Terai region. In retaliation, traders blocked the entry of vehicles from Nepal to India at Sunauli area on the Indo-Nepal border in UP’s Maharajganj district’s Nautanwa tehsil last fortnight.

 

Further, External Affairs Minister SM Krishna raised the ban issue called by the CPN-Maoist with Nepal's Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Narayan Kaji Shrestha during a meeting in New York on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly session last month. Krishna reminded Shrestha of the existence of a time-bound understanding between Nepal and India that territories of either side would not be used against the other for propaganda purposes. Shrestha reassured Krishna that such activities were not permissible and would be curtailed.

Nonetheless, India and Nepal have much friction in their relations. Yet both nations also have a history of cooperation in many areas. Only last week, Indian Ambassador to Nepal Jayant Prasad offered Kathmandu help in mitigating its energy crisis by cooperating in the field of non-conventional sources of energy.

But, Nepal’s seemingly never-ending political transition process is a matter of grave concern for India. Increasing anti-India rhetoric, anti-India actions and rise in China’s clout therein are predicaments which the Indian Establishment views as serious for the future of Nepal-India relations.

The hostility which the current Nepalese Prime Minister Baburam Bhattarai of the caretaker Government faces is not receding; instead it is growing with alarming speed. Perhaps Nepal could borrow a leaf out of India’s history in its first step towards political consolidation vis-à-vis forming its CA.

Recall, India’s Constituent Assembly was elected from the provinces along-with some representatives from Princely States. Also, the Indian Congress Party had won elections to the CA with an overwhelming majority and could have hammered out any kind of Constitution with little or no debate.

But, Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru asked his most ardent critic B.R Ambedkar to draft the Constitution and inducted a whole host of leaders critical to the Congress from across the political spectrum: S.P. Mukherji, T Bahadur Sapru, HN Kunzru, among others to be a part of the CA. These drafters were given Congress tickets to contest the CA elections. This tactic ensured the formation of an all-inclusive constitution.

In sum, all important Articles were debated and passed unanimously. Perhaps Nepal too could look at this Indian experience to gain some perspective on the ways to settle disputes by co-opting leaders of all shades of opinion to prepare a Constitution. Such a Constitution has the advantage of having been drafted by people across a spectrum of ideologies, gives voice to all competing national visions, allows room for intense debate by Parties to convince others of their suggestions and thus can be said to be as representative in nature as possible. ---- INFA

(Copyright, India News and Feature Alliance)



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