“We need to celebrate this historical victory by lighting candles”, said Prime Minister Sushil Koirala. UML Chief Whip Agni Kharel, one of Oli’s confidantes, said that Jaishankar suggested promulgation of the new constitution only after reaching agreements with agitating political forces. Janajatis are minority ethnic groups indigenous to Nepal.
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A clause that will make it more hard for women to pass their citizenship onto their children has also attracted fierce criticism, with rights activists calling it a backwards step.
Most of the Madhes-based parties, whose combined strength is 60, boycotted the voting process along with smaller opposition parties.
“This is a historic event for Nepal but if the leaders had been a little flexible, the Madhesi, Tharu and Janajati parties that have stayed out of the process could be included”, said Lok Raj Baral, executive chairman of the Nepal Centre for Contemporary Studies.
It is Nepal’s first constitution to be written by elected representatives, after the previous six were drafted by panels of crown-appointed experts.
Bill Flores, R-Bryan, and Jeb Hensarling, R-Athens, signed a letter urging Kerry “to work through diplomatic channels and to coordinate with regional allies and the United Nations to call upon the government of Nepal to ensure that its new constitution protects the rights of religious minorities”.
In Nepal, the leaders of major political parties have hailed the constitution as a long-awaited dream of the people fulfilled after 70 years. Fresh elections were held in November 2013 which brought the Nepali Congress to power and pushed the Maoists to third spot, with the Communists taking the second. On May 28, 2012, the then Prime Minister Baburam Bhattarai dissolved the Constituent Assembly after it failed to finish the constitution after the ending of four years of constitution drafting and leaving the country in a legal vacuum.
Lawmakers passed the Constitution overnight that sets Nepal up as a secular federation of seven States, each with its own legislature.
“India is concerned over the ongoing protests and strife in several parts of Nepal”, foreign minister Sushma Swaraj said in a statement earlier this week.
The constitution has been delayed by years of disagreements among the main political parties, and its approval is regarded as a major achievement for them. The success of the constitution will also depend on how Nepal handles the legitimate concerns of its two big neighbors, India and China.
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Under the new constitution, Nepal will have a parliamentary form of government with a president elected by a collegium of both central legislative houses, the Legislative-Parliament and the National Assembly, as well as the provincial legislative body.
