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Run up to a Republic
November saw the submission of the report by the Rayamajhi commission, signing of the peace accord between the government and the Maoists and the passing of the Citizenship Law by the Parliament. The King welcomed the peace accord, granting it his approval though it has a provision to keep the monarchy suspended till the first meeting of the Constituent Assembly decides the fate of that institution. Also signed was the agreement detailing how to manage the arms and army of the Maoists, who are now concentrated in cantonments though the physical infrastructure in those cantonment sites are still not prepared. These developments were topped by the finalisation of an interim constitution by consensus of all the seven parties and the Maoists in early December and the stripping off of the King of all state duties and authorities. This is regarded to have paved the way for a republican Nepal . Though some members of the seven political parties have expressed their dissatisfaction over some points, they are not expected to put hurdles in approving the interim constitution when it is presented to the Parliament for its passage, followed by the setting up the interim Parliament which include the Maoists as members.
The Maoists were euphoric after the peace accord, though the expression of joy by the others was subdued. The reason may be that the people think the peace process is not complete or that restoration of peace was something they had expected to be achieved much earlier (hence unhappy at the delay) or that peace was not something new for Nepal, it was only usurped by someone and now it is returned. Why celebrate when something is just returned, not created?
Now the formation of the interim government and Parliament are very certain even though the date for the CA polls is not declared yet. There may be some difficulties in getting the polls held as scheduled by the end of June because many issues related to the polls are yet to be decided. However, let us just hope that before the polls, all Nepalis including the political leaders understand what a CA actually is. History also shows that such assemblies take a long time to conclude. Moreover, if the proposed date is very close, then voters might not actually understand what they are voting for. This should be taken very seriously in Nepal given the education levels in the country.
Meanwhile, the Citizenship Act was passed by the Parliament. With provisions to make it easy to grant citizenship certificates. Though the move is to help all the people participate in the Constituent Assembly polls, it is being opposed by various sections of the society. Nepal Peasants and Workers Party, a member of the seven party alliance, cast a vote against the citizenship Bill in Parliament. Before the act was passed, the Office of the UN Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights in Nepal called it discriminatory against women and called for changes in the relevant clauses. Others are opposing the Bill claiming that it may turn Nepal into Fiji by making it easy for the foreigners to get citizenships. Some Maoist leaders have also raised objections to the Citizenship Act. They say that the interim Parliament may review this law. Some opponents of the new Act had filed a case in the Supreme Court demanding annulment of the Act, but the apex court turned the petition down. By doing so, the apex court also recognised, for the first time, the declaration of the House of Representatives. This move by the Supreme Court has removed the fear that there would be a crisis if the Supreme Court decided to test the constitutionality of the declaration.
As for the Rayamajhi Commission report, the government has formed a cabinet committee headed by Deputy PM Oli to study it and recommend how to go forward with this. People already have started to doubt the implementation of the commission's recommendations. This was also the case with the Mallik Commission report. But the formation of the cabinet committee has raised hopes that perhaps the government is more serious than perceived and that it will implement the report’s recommendation.
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