book setup 2069 nijamati.indd

agendas and recommendations for the new constitution. These include: fair and
effective representation in state institutions; equality and elimination of all forms
of discrimination; affirmative action, including “reservations” or quotas; secure
citizenship; a secular state; political recognition of the diversity of cultures and
languages; self-government through a federal type of autonomy, preferably
based on language and ethnicity, etc. As in many countries, a strong sense of
ethnicity is most frequently a response to discrimination and deprivation. All the
“marginalized” communities have suffered in this way. For many long years,
they have asked for fair representation, fair treatment, fair opportunities and
their rightful place in state affairs despite Government has made efforts in the
past, at a much larger scale after the April 2006 Janandolan, to reduce cultural,
political and socio-economic exclusion.
The Interim Constitution provides much more provisions than the Constitution
of 1990 to improve the prevailing anomalies. However, various studies have
shown vivid gaps across the country’s different regions and its caste and ethnic
groups. These gaps become all the more pervasive with time both for the
regions and the groups within them. This implies that the policies of the past
have not addressed exclusion and inequalities effectively. In this context, we
need to aware that equitable representation cannot alone resolve the problems
of exclusion unless those who represent Nepal’s various constituencies can
influence policy decisions through direct and active participation. Those now
excluded are unlikely to participate as effectively as advantaged groups because
of their political inexperience and shortcomings in their endowments. Inequalities
in endowment not only create, but cause exclusion. Consequently, inequality
and exclusion must end simultaneously in all its dimensions, including that of
political action - a major feat that can come about only through consensus and
cooperation.
Because Nepal’s present mixed electoral system gives different caste and ethnic
groups better representation than its predecessors, it has offered an opportunity
to even the marginalized groups and to the smaller parties to help define the
destiny of the country. This also helps foster accountability and ensure inclusion.
The current mixed electoral system was designed so as to give excluded groups
a greater voice in the legislature. The following tables show the representation
of formally excluded groups in the Constituent Assembly, Nepal, 2008.
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