Nepal & Bhutan Brief (3/15)

Internal Developments:

Constitution Drafting

1. The process of constitution drafting continued to face problems on account of deep polarization between the ruling parties and opposition preventing any engagement between them for resolution of the contentious issues. The opposition fears that returning to the negotiation table could be a trap that could eventually lead to the ruling parties forcing ‘approval by majority vote’ formulation. Therefore, they are threatening to quit the Constituent Assembly unless the move to form the ‘Questionnaire Committee’ is withdrawn. Negotiations with the ruling parties could start only thereafter, they maintain.

2. Meanwhile, radical groups such as those led by Netra Bikram Chand and Mohan Baidya are urging the opposition to walk out of the CA process altogether. In such a circumstance, the onus would shift back on the ruling parties to create conducive environment for negotiation by reaching out to the opposition and convincing them that they will not go for a majority based constitution.

3. On his part, Prime Minister Sushil Kumar Koirala made a positive start by issuing a public statement appealing to the opposition parties to rejoin the dialogue route. He urged the parties represented in the CA to fulfill their responsibilities towards the Nepali people. In his reconciliatory message, he urged the parties to start talks from where they left off on January 19 when they were close to a consensus. PM Koirala also appealed to the Maoist Chairman to join the talks. The move by the Prime Minister came after pressure from President Ram Baran Yadav, the second rung party leaders in the ruling alliance and the international community to look for consensus. Koirala, addressing a party gathering at the Nepali Congress headquarters on February 10, reiterated his readiness to adopt maximum flexibility in talks with the opposition parties in order to bring the constitution drafting process back on the track. He said that there was no alternative to consensus and it was impossible to draft a constitution without it.

4.However, in spite of the Prime Minister’s appeal, chances of resumed negotiation appeared dim as the 30 party opposition alliance led by the UCPN- Maoist rejected the appeal for resumed dialogue stating that it did not carry the spirit of a change in attitude. At a meeting of the opposition-alliance (Feb. 9), it was said that an environment conducive for talks would not be created until the voting process initiated by the ruling parties for drafting the constitution was stopped.

5. In view of the hard line adopted by the opposition, CA Chairman, Subas Nembang, is expected to stop the process for some time to create a conducive environment for the talks to resume. The parties may get at least 10 days more to forge consensus which means there will not be an immediate voting. However, the Chairman Nembang is not in a position to defer the meeting for an indefinite period as he himself had initiated the process. In case parties are not in position to forge consensus, the CA will take its own course.

UCPN (Maoist) Leader Bhattarai Urged to Drop Mass Protests:

6. Businessman, rights activists, journalists and representatives of various other organizations urged UCPN (Maoist) leader Baburam Bhattarai not to start another ‘movement’ but to seek a resolution to the current political stalemate through a dialogue. They expressed anxiety as to how long they would keep their factories shut and stay home. Local residents and business community in cities had also taken to the streets defying the ‘bandh’ (closure) called by the Maoist led 30 party alliance about two weeks ago.

CPN (Maoist) Claimed Move to Turn into Militant Force:

7. CPN Maoist leader Netra Bikram Chand has claimed that he has started transforming the newly formed party into a militant force with military style training to its full time cadres which mainly constitute members of the former People Liberation Army (PLA) and young communist League. At a meeting of party leaders last week, it was decided to immediately formulate the necessary mechanism and work on developing the militant wing. The group, it may be recalled, had split from the Mohan Baidya- led CPN- Maoist with nearly 40 per cent Central Committee members, and is estimated to have between 10,000- 15, 000 full– time cadres. According to the leaders, a growing number of UCPN (Maoist) and CPN- Maoist cadres, supporting the extreme left ideology, have been joining the new party. This claim has not yet been independently confirmed. It is also not clear as to how the party plans to manage arms and ammunition for the paramilitary activities. However, the party reportedly has a few hundred weapons used during the ‘people’s war’. The party plans to intensify its fund-raising campaign to procure arms and ammunition and manage other party activities.

Efforts to Revive Hindu State:

8. Pashupati Shamsher Rana has renewed his demand for reviving the country’s ‘Hindu’ identity. The Rashtriya Prajatantra Party leader, addressing a programme in Kathmandu on February 10 said, “We have already made it clear that the country needs to be a Hindu republic”. Rana claimed that he had formally asked the government and the Constituent Assembly that the country needed to re-adopt its Hindu identity while keeping the republican order intact.

Black Money Probe:

9. Parliament’s finance committee has asked the government to find out whether Nepalis have stashed away billions of black money in HSBC’s Swiss Bank accounts. The move comes in the wake of a revelation made by the International Consortium of Investigative Journalist (ICIJ) that eight Nepali nationals had stashed away NRs. 5.38 billion ($ 54 million) in the Swiss Bank as in the year 2006-2007. The report titled ‘The Swiss leaks’ however, did not reveal names of Nepali account holders. The Committee also asked the government to initiate diplomatic efforts to extract information about black money. After the abolition of monarchy in 2006, Ministry of Foreign Affairs had written to some of the Swiss Banks to know if members of the former royal family held accounts there. All Swiss Banks contacted by the ministry had replied in negative.

UK Envoy to Nepal Andrew Sparkes Quits:

10. UK Ambassador to Nepal Andrew Sparkes, who recently came under controversy for his views on religious freedom, has quit British Foreign Service, cutting his short stint in Nepal. In a brief note, the UK Embassy in Kathmandu stated that Sparkes had taken a personal decision to leave the British Foreign Service after thirty years service and three ambassadorial posts. Sparkes was dragged into controversy after he, in an article published in a local newspaper on 10 December, urged Nepal legislators to secure rights to religious conversion in the new constitution. Political parties viewed Sparkes’ article on religious freedom as interference in Nepal’s internal affairs. There are speculations that Sparkes was forced to resign due to controversy sparked by his controversial article.