Sushil Koirala

Sushil Koirala In Jackson Heights
Sushil Koirala, September 9

Janajati, Madhesi: Too Vague, Dalit: Not Assertive Enough

The women will be well served by the 33% reservation for them at all levels of government. That is a great formula. Now we just have to make sure it gets implemented. That 33% formula is the best thing to have come out of the April Revolution so far. (Bidya Bhandari: Power Woman)

I am really curious to know how it came about. That was a master stroke. For that one act I would put Bidya Bhandari in the same league as Madan Bhandari, in her own right.

But there is a danger all those reserved seats might end up going to the urban, Pahadi, Bahun women. And so there is a need for reservations for the Dalit, Madhesi and Janajati within that 33%.

All Members To The Constituent Assembly Must Be Directly Elected
Interim Parliament: 101 Members Total

Nepal Federation of Indigenous Peoples
Nepal Sadhbhawana Party-Anandidevi
Dalit NGO Federation

These three organizations are at the forefront of the fight for social justice on behalf of the Janajati, Madhesi and Dalit respectively. And so one has to follow and critique the utterances of these organizations to get a feel for the progress or lack thereof.

For the purposes of this blog entry, I am depending on this table formulated below by the Conflict Study Center.

I am alarmed the Sadbhavana has not taken a clear stand for a republic. A Madhesi could end up president. The Janajati group has done one better. The Dalit group is silent on the issue. Holding direct elections for president will cause political fermentations that will speed up the political consciousness in the country. It will speed up social change.

Proposed Constitution

The Sadbhavana talks of an inclusive army, but that is not specific enough. The party is going to have to face some basic questions. What should be the size of the army? What should be the composition? The Janajati and the Dalit groups are also going to have to get vocal on this issue.

Monarchy, Army, Federalism

Both the Janajati and the Madhesi groups have been vocal on the federalism issue, and the Sadbhavana does have a map, Eastern Terai, Western Terai, Eastern Hills, Western Hills, and Kathmandu. What is the Janajati map? I have a feeling they might like the map put forth by the Maoists. And even the UML has been talking of states demarcated along ethnic lines. So right now the Maoist map is winning the day. And I actually don't dislike that map. But that is my second choice map.

My federalism is designed to ensure rapid economic growth for the country.

Sumit Pokharel: Maps
Interim Federalism
Critiquing Pitambar Sharma's Federalism
Pitambar Sharma's Federalism
Federalism: Competing Maps
RPP For Federalism Ahead of UML, NC And NC(D)
My Federalism Is Economic, Scientific, Not Ethnic
UML Inching Towards Federalism
Monarchy, Army, Federalism

The 45% reservations in the state bureaucracy for the DaMaJaMa and the disabled is another positive step by the seven party alliance. But the key issue about state restructuring is to do with the three basics: Monarchy, Army, Federalism.

I say abolish the monarchy, disband the army, and move towards a three state federalism.

My Federalism Is Economic, Scientific, Not Ethnic

The next constitution should be short, simple and specific. After that politicians should be competing with each other in terms who can provide the best education and health and micro credit. I call them the magic three. It is with the magic three that you lift families out of poverty and on and on to prosperity.

Another federalism that has been suggested is to have more states, and do away with districts. So you move from the village/town/city to state to federal, for a total of three layers of government.

That is a thought, but in my proposal I have retained the four layers because that is my response to the nine or more states by others. If all 75 district chairpersons are directly elected, members of all ethnic groups will stand a good chance of getting into positions of executive authority. The larger groups will get many such offices. Some of those 75 will end up the three state Governors, some of which will go on to become president. So I argue to keep the 75 districts. Each should have a district budget supplement from the state that is directly proportional to the district's population. In addition there will be the local income tax base, the local sales tax base. And the 25 poorest districts will get federal supplements.

Executive is a different skill set than the legislative. Nine or 10 are not enough. Let's create 75 executive positions.

50-30-10-10: Four Layers Of Government

And if also all mayors are directly elected, now we are talking.

And all members of the Upper House have to be directly elected. It is called people power.

The Sadbhavana And My Proposal For Federalism

The Sadbhavana folks who I personally know do not like my map. They want two Terai states so two Madhesi Chief Ministers can be guaranteed.

In my proposal, there is a strong possibility of there ending up Madhesi mayors in all the big Terai towns, Madhesi district chairpersons in the 16 Terai districts that will together control at least half the budget of all 75 districts, perhaps more like 60%, since they are so vibrant economically, and they will have the option to form a Terai District Chairpersons' Association, and there will be a 50-50 chance that the Governor in all three states will end up Madhesi, and a 50-50 chance that a Madhesi will end up president.

My proposal empowers the Madhesi more than the Sadbhavana proposal does. It is because my proposal is closer to the one person, one vote ideal.

Families want to make more money more than anything else.

Various Stages Of Political Consciousness

(1) Claiming the identity. For much of the 1990s, the big parties did a good job of avoiding use of the word Madhesi. The 2001 census uses words like Yadav and Muslim but not Madhesi.

(2) Seeing the injustice. That takes some effort. That takes some political literacy. It is actually easy to do. You compare the Madhesi share in the population to the Madhesi share in the state. The disparity is the injustice.

(3) Vocalizing, Organizing. You have to articulate the grievances. And based on that you have to get the Madhesis to come together.

(4) Plan of action, Agenda. This is about having specific goals and a plan of action to get there. Federalism is one such goal. It helps to keep the list of goals short and simple.

Coalition Building

Any Nepali can join the Sadbhavana. But for all practical reasons it has been a Madhesi party. I think there is a need for a similar Janajati party, a similar Dalit party. Or the Janajati and Dalit groups could bargain for a restructuring of the Sadbhavana to get their share. The Maoists have done a pretty good job on the Janajati, Dalit issue. But they also fall short on getting the Janajatis and Dalits to leadership positions.

The DaMaJaMa groups are best served if all parties compete for their votes. I don't think there is any one party that is salvation. It is the beauty of the marketplace of votes that the resultant fermentation brings forth progress.

Leadership Matters

No matter who agitated you get as a group, ultimately the work of progress gets done through a few leaders. Leaders matter. We have to have a soft spot in our hearts for the emerging DaMaJaMa leaders.

Some Basics To Rememer

1. Transparent party finances.
2. State funded parties.
3. Direct elections for all seats.
   
4. Reserved seats for the DaMaJaMa.
   

I fear the Sadbhavana and the other parties are about to fall into the trap of the proportional election thing. They have it in Israel and they are not happy about it. The power shifts from the people to the political party leaders. A few party leaders will write up the manifesto on which the people will vote. A few party leaders will decide who gets on the list. The favorites of the party leaders without mass base will get elected. That is not democracy, that is deviation.

Who Will Tie The Bell Round The Cat's Neck
Proposed Constitution

For Dalits Buddhism Is Salvation

I reach the same conclusion that the most famous Dalit Ambedkar reached. The Hindu caste system can not be reformed, and there is no point trying. All Dalits should convert to Buddhism en masse.

Source: Conflict Study Center
Issues of Janajatis, Madhesis and Dalits pertaining to Interim Constitution

August 17, 2006

Issues	Janajatis1 (Nepal Federation of Indigenous Peoples)	Madhesis2 (Nepal Sadhbhawana Party-Anandidevi)	Dalits3 (Dalit NGO Federation)	Key Political Parties
Monarchy/ Head of the State	Nepal is a multi-ethnic, multi-religion, multi-lingual and multi-cultural Independent, indivisible and Sovereign and secular Democratic Republic State	Sovereignty, state power and governance shall be vested in the people, and the representative institution shall use people’s supremacy		NC4: decided by the CA; currently as per HoR decision 2006 NC(D)5: decided by referendum or CA CPN(UML)6: decided by referendum together with CA elections Maoist7: Declaration of a Democratic Republic
Security		Nepal Army shall be restructured as per inclusive dimensions		NC: Cabinet controls inclusive Army, NC(D): Demobilization of arms of political organizations and special security for free and fair CA elections CPN(UML): National Security Council formed by IP8 controls NA9 and responsive to Cabinet, Maoist: NA and PLA10 restrained into barracks /camps during CA elections monitored by national and international mechanisms, both under IP and Government (PM as Supreme Commander), High Level Army Commission (Chairperson appointed by IP) formed jointly by SPA11 and Maoists for Interim security management and restructuration of both Armies into New National Army SPA and Maoist: Arms and combatants of NA and PLA confined into barracks/camps monitored by UN
Interim Constitution and Parliament	State council shall use the legislative powers selected through extensive political conference The issues relating to distribution of natural resources and to critical national importance shall be decided by referendum	IP shall be formed thru consensus of SPA, Maoists and civil society based on caste/ethnicity and regional proportional inclusive principles. IP should be oriented to inclusive CA elections Elected representatives shall be repelled deferring vote to concerned party IC shall address the issues of gender, caste/ethnicity, Madhesi, Dalit, religion, language, culture and region	Ensure proportional representation based on inclusive democratic principles A sovereign alternative legislative with proportional representation of Dalits, women, indigenous, ethnic groups, Madhesis based on inclusive democratic principles and 8-pt Accord between SPA and Maoists instead of incumbent HoR	NC: Incumbent Cabinet submits IC12 to incumbent HoR and passed by two-third majority, consisting of elected HoR13 and National Assembly selected through political consensus forms IP, which is dissolved upon the first meeting of CA NC(D): incumbent HoR continued till alternative arrangement through Political Consensus after Arms management, an inclusive IP formed through political consensus with balanced representations of SPA, Maoists and Civil Society, which is dissolved upon the first meeting of CA CPN(UML): present HoR continued till alternative arrangement, legislative rights handled by the IP Maoist: inclusive IP formed thru Extensive National Political Conference (33.3% for each of SPA, Maoists and Civil Society), present HoR automatically dissolved upon Proclamation of IC
Executive or Interim Government (IG) and Local Governance (LG) or Restructration of State	The PM shall be elected by the State Council and the Cabinet shall be formed by PM and the cabinet shall dissolve upon approval of PM’s resignation PM could appoint ministers from outside State Council PM including cabinet shall be responsible to State Council During Interim period, PM shall tenure resignation to Speaker No question shall raise in judiciary regarding political decisions made by cabinet The political and administrative units shall be restructured based on historical topographical regions, caste/ethnicity and linguistics consisting of two types of autonomous bodies. The Caste/ethnic autonomous regions shall consist of district, municipality and village levels with legislative, executive, judicial and religious authorities Indigenous nationalities shall have special privileges in the bodies of caste/ethnic autonomous regions and proportional representation shall be meted to other castes/ethnicities Legislative, executive and judicial bodies shall be headed by Indigenous nationalities Local autonomy denotes ethnic administrative unit of the ethnic autonomous province	Federal Structure of the State based on Territory and culture The center takes care of monetary, foreign policy, security and coordination with federal states and the rest by federate states with full authority A regional council shall be formed by the federal state on the issues of caste/ethnicity, linguistic and culture. IG shall be formed thru consensus of SPA, Maoists and civil society based on caste/ethnicity and regional proportional inclusive principles.	Ensure proportional representation based on inclusive democratic principles	NC: IP forms and dissolves IG14, basis of restructuration of state based on interrelation of geo-political, population, language, economy and identification of cultural community NC(D): 33% participation of women in all levels, inclusive democracy and federal structure government CPN(UML): IP elects PM, who forms Interim Cabinet thru political consensus and ensuring structures and rights for local self governance Maoist: IP elects PM, who forms Interim Cabinet; Federal Republic divided into nine AR15 based on ethnicity, geo-political and linguistic regions (Kirat, Madesh, Tamang, Newa, Tamuwan, Magarat, Tharuwan, Bheri-Karnali, and Seti-Mahakali) and formation of nine AR governments and Interim Local Authorities at District, Municipality and Village in consensus of SPA and Maoists
Judiciary/Constitutional Court	The judiciary of the kingdom shall consist of Supreme court, constitutional court, Appellate court, and District Court but special courts or judicial commissions shall be formed to deal with special cases, but no such special courts or judicial commissions shall be formed for individual case All the courts except Constitutional and Military Courts shall be under the jurisdiction of Supreme Court	Proportional representation in both central and federal structure constitutional bodies	Independent and autonomous judiciary Special policies and programs to develop skilled judicial officials from Dalits, women and other marginalized communities/classes who lack access to law	NC: N/A NC(D): Formation of Constitutional Court formed to CA election impediments CPN(UML): All courts of the Constitution of 1990 continued in IC, Constitutional Council under the PM inclusive of Chief Justice and Speaker of HoR and Formation of Constitutional Court formed to CA election impediments Maoist: formation of Interim Judiciary consist of Supreme Court, Appellate and District Courts, and People’s Courts at the rural areas; all the justices and judges appointed by Interim Legislature or relevant representative body
CA Electoral Process	An Election Commission shall be formed for CA elections, the Chief and other commissioners shall be appointed by State Council Constituency Delineation Commission shall be formed The CA shall consist of 300 representatives; 250 from community lists based on caste/ethnic population on the proportion of 1:100 thousand and 50 from general lists “popular votes.” Each community list shall consists of caste/ethnic proportion and be publicized in parallel and Collective list following Ethnic Autonomous Region or Linguistic Local Autonomy. They are: Indigenous nationalities Hill Khash high caste Madhesis (excluding nationalities and Dalits) Dalits Religious minorities and others All the lists shall consist of 50% women All citizens above 16 years of age shall cast their votes	Multi-member election delineation system shall adopt to represent territorial, social and cultural diversities CA election based on proportional representation shall be inclusive Fixed poll list shall be used for inclusive electoral system Election Commission shall decide on proportional number of representation of caste, ethnicity including priority on gender based on socio-cultural structure of the population and act accordingly 200-250 CA members shall be directly elected thru adult franchise All citizens above 16 years of age shall cast their votes CA shall finalize New Constitution within one year thru two-third majority The issues not materialized in CA shall be decided by referendum The CA acts both as CA and IP	Proportional representation of marginalized and disadvantaged groups based on population Create special electoral constituencies to ensure proportional representation of and through competitive process of Dalits and other marginalized communities/classes Proportional representation of Dalits, women and other marginalized groups at all levels of political parties	NC: CA elections within one year of IG Proclamation consisting 50% each of direct and indirect representations; indirect composed of women, dalits, indigenous/ethnicities, Madhesis, minorities, differentially abled, backward areas, professionals and civil society NC(D): CA elections within one year of IP Proclamation consisting 50% each of direct and indirect representatives, ensuring women, indigenous, ethnicities, Madhesi, dalits, Karnali, including remote areas and 10% from professionals and civil society CPN(UML): Electoral procedures defined by act, ensuring inclusive and proportional election system Maoist: CA elections within one year of IC Proclamation; 225 CA members comprising 90 from nine autonomous regions; and 125 from 200-thousand population each; and 10 from marginalized and experts, ensuring inclusion and proportional representations of women, disadvantaged castes, ethnicity, differentially abled
Certification of Constitution		Approved by two-third majority of CA Proclamation of new Constitution by Chair of the CA		NC: National Commission of experts to draft of CA by National Commission submitted thru Interim Cabinet to IP and approved/amended by two-thirds majority of IP NC(D): The CA announces new constitution within two years of CA formation CPN(UML): N/A Maoist: IP approves and Interim Cabinet proclaims
Guiding Principles of State	Fair distribution of country’s economic resources without discriminating caste/ethnicity, gender, class, region, and person, abolishing control and use by limited central elites Promotion of international relations keeping sovereignty, integrity and freedom of the nation Autonomous provinces shall formed restructuring state in terms of caste/ethnicity and language Basic livelihood of people e.g. education, health, transportation, housing and employment shall be developed and distributed fairly	Ensure inclusive proportional representation of all classes/groups at all echelons to policy formulation of State	Guarantee proportional representation of all classes/groups at all echelons to policy formulation of State Ensure representations of 20% Dalits and 33% women in all state’s policy formulation infrastructures Special provisions for Dalits, Janajatis, Madhesis, women and differentially-abled for discrimination-free peaceful and developed state Formation of Dalit Development Council elected directly by Dalits for overall development of Dalits	NC: Special proportional provisions shall be endowed to women, Dalit, dalits, Janajatis, indigenous, Madhesis, differentially-abled, labors, peasants, remote areas, poor; policy of 33% representation of women; trade union rights; conflict-affected persons shall be compensated and transitional justice shall be provided; etc NC(D): Multi-party democracy; special programs to martyrs and families of wounded during People’s Movement II; at least 33% women representation in public and party positions; federal state with inclusive democracy; etc CPN(UML): One-third women shall be included; Special programs shall be conducted for dalits, Janajatis, indigenous, Madhesis, differentially-abled, labors, peasants, disadvantaged areas and below the poverty line Maoist: Establishment of Democratic Republic abolishing monarchy and feudal autocracy; competitive Multiparty systems, adult franchise, periodic elections, rule of law, human rights, fundamental rights shall be guaranteed; democratic values promoted in economic, social and cultural spheres; Right to self-determination; Establishment of federal structural autonomous governance; Secular nation; End feudal ownership and right to the tillers; Special management to labor , poor peasants, landless, Kamaiya, haruwa, charuwa, etc.; Formulation of appropriate policies on industrialization, trade and business; Peaceful coexistence with all countries; repel all unequal treaties and agreements; etc.
Citizenship/Nationality	Citizenship shall be based on descendents through father, mother and five generation, no one shall be deprived from citizenship Each citizen or linguistic group has the right to education on his/her mother tongue Any individual born after adoption of the Constitution will be a Nepali citizen if his/her father or mother is a Nepali Citizen Any child with unidentified paternity or maternity shall get citizenship upon recommendation of an institution or a lawyer Concerning Terai, citizenship shall be awarded based on the voter list for referendum of 2037 Bikram Sambat16 Any male/female from abroad having matrimonial relation with a Nepali citizen and discarding his/her native citizenship shall be awarded Nepalese citizenship Honorary citizenship may be conferred to International figures of distinction	Conduction of census prior to CA elections thru inclusive representative team to make CA inclusive and proportional representative Prior to collection of voter’s list for CA elections, arrangements for awarding citizenship to all people deprived of citizenship shall be made by IC On the recommendation of a citizenship holder, concerned authority through citizenship distribution team, shall distribute citizenship to all individuals residing in Nepal before IC After commencement of IC, citizenship shall be acquired by birth, either father or mother born in Nepal, and matrimonial relationship Central government confers citizenship to foreigners on the recommendation of Federal government	Guarantee the birth right to citizenship based on descendency and clan devoid of discrimination Madhesis, landless, Badi, etc groups to be awarded citizenship immediately	NC: Persons born or residing permanently prior to proclamation of constitution 1990 shall be provided citizenship; citizenship shall be hereditary of father or mother, etc. NC(D): Citizenship shall be defined as per Permanent residence, heredity, birth, matrimonial relationship, acquisition, and honorary; Special provision based on inhabitance shall be guaranteed to those without citizenship; All-Party Citizenship Identification Commission shall be formed to distribute at the local levels; etc CPN(UML): citizenship shall be awarded based on the voter list for referendum of 2037 Bikram Sambat; citizenship shall also be provided on the basis of mother Maoist: Citizenship shall be provided to all; Citizenship shall be provided either from father’s or mother’s identity; A high level commission to provide citizenship to Madhesis of Terai inhabitants prior to CA elections shall be formed
Fundamental Rights	All individuals shall be equal before and under law No one shall be discriminated based on religion, caste, gender, language, ethnicity, and ideological conscience Special provisions to protection and development shall be made to women, children, elderly, differentially-abled, and socio-economically deprived indigenous nationalities, Dalits, Madhesis and other disadvantaged groups No one shall on the basis of caste and ethnicity be discriminated as untouchables or be denied access to any public place or be deprived of use of public utilities. Any act in violation of this provision shall be punishable by law All mother tongues shall be national languages. For public affairs tri-linguist policy shall be adopted: first shall be concerned regional language, second is ethnic neighboring community based on social, trade and culture, and third is international language Non-discrimination to education, health and employment Freedom of thought and _expression, to peaceful assembly without arms, to form unions and associations, to mobility and domicile, to choose any profession and trade Freedom to press and publication rights Right to intellectual property Right against all kinds of exploitations	All citizens shall enjoy internationally recognized and unrestricted fundamental rights including personal property and press freedom The state shall adopt Multi-lingual policy Non-discrimination to religion, culture and dress Reservation in the fields of education, health and employment to the disadvantaged groups for instance Madhesi, Indigenous nationalities, Dalit, women.	Ensure FR of citizens based on UDHR and international norms Protection and promotion of universal rights of Dalits, minorities, Janajatis, Madhesis, //differentially-abled, children and women Penalizing as crime to those practicing of untouchability and caste discrimination Nepali people being the source of state immediate abolition of bonded labor like Haliya, Khali, Balighare and so on discriminatory systems under feudal state structures, and develop special programs for their social and economic development	NC: Keeping all rights to incumbent constitution, extensive rights shall be provided to women, Dalits, nationalities, indigenous, Madhesi, differentially-abled, including disadvantaged areas and trade union, etc NC(D): N/A CPN(UML): Rights to life, health, education, security, compensation, rehabilitation, minorities, indigenous, differentially-abled, children, intellectual, employment, food security and equal property in addition to the incumbent FR Maoist: Right to equality, union and association, vote and candidacy, mobility, assemble, parental property to both sexes, and press, publication and freedom of _expression, along with, matrimony, property, divorce, abortion etc. No one shall possess property above the sanction of the law. All are free to accept or refuse religion. Locals shall have rights on water, land, forest and mines of their territories