E-Kantipur

KATHMANDU, DEC 04 -  

The State Restructuring Commission (SRC) seems to have served a common purpose for the major parties, which all had taken an official stand on restructuring, to back out from their earlier positions.

In fact, the parties had gone through a change of heart regarding their positions on state restructuring and none of them were comfortable with the 14-state model proposed earlier by a Constituent Assembly committee. They were on the lookout for an excuse to change their seemingly irreconcilable positions, make necessary compromises and find a meeting point, but it was a difficult move for each individual party given their internal differences.

“Without the commission, it would have been very difficult for parties to back out immediately from their official positions,” said Surendra Mahato, a member of the commission representing the Madhes-based parties. “The parties now can change their stand, if need be, citing recommendation of the commission.”

While Nepali Congress had once floated a six- to nine-state model based on economic viability, geography, culture and language, the Maoists had advocated for 14-state model based on ethnicity. The Madhes-based parties have called for one-Madhes Pradesh. However, all the parties have indicated that they are not rigid on their positions and are ready to compromise.

NC leaders say the number is not their bottom line now and are ready to agree on any model that is economically and socially sustainable.

“Compromise among parties on state restructuring is necessary if the process is to move forward,” said NC leader Arjun Narsingh KC. “Politics is all about give and take.”

The Maoist party has also realised that the purely ethnicity-based federal model, which it proposed earlier, would not be sustainable and that the communities like Brahmins and Chhetries should also be taken into confidence. Maoist leader Haribol Gajurel maintains that though the party is unwilling to budge from its position on state restructuring, it is trying to compromise so that the entire process doesn’t get stalled.

Madhesi Janadhikar Forum-Ganatantrik leader and Agriculture Minister Nandan Dutt said the Madhes-based parties could go for two states in Madhes instead of “one Madhes-Pradesh” as demanded earlier. He added that realistically speaking one Madhes-Pradesh is not possible given the competing claim on the land from other groups including Tharus. “The commission would make this compromise possible,”

he said.

Political analyst Chandra Kishore also believes that the formation of the SRC will help parties engage in some kind of give and take on state restructuring. He believes that parties needed some pretext to budge from their respective positions and the commission served that purpose. “Recommendation of the commission can be cited by parties if they need to take a different position on state restructuring and federalism,” adds Kishore.

 

Posted on: 2011-12-04 09:33

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