English - Support to Participatory Constitution Building in Nepal ...

The Remake of a Statefacilities like security and basic services, credibility over government andstate system is also declining. It might be specific in case of the immediateaftermath of conflict in Nepal. But we have not yet tried enough to addresssuch issues that have lasting implications. Hence, state building has beena widely debated and hotly contested topic these days.In the state building process, it will be an analytical misstep to view thestate as a unitary actor. This conceals the various forms of 'state' underconditions of international intervention. Second, state actors are but onegroup of elite actors who must be considered in their relationship to otherlocal-subordinate, elite and international groups.The rejuvenation of the state institutions remains a must in post-conflictstate building. It has to do with the formation of new governmentinstitutions and the strengthening of the existing ones (Fukuyama 2009).Inclusion, therefore, is needed not only of sex and caste, but also ofthoughts that come from diverse corners of the society. Time and again,Nepal has had infant democracy with low chances of proper exercise.For more than 60 years, this country saw the 'trial and errors' of variouspolitical changes, almost one on average per decade. With numerousscopes and plenty hopes, the strength of the state is yet to be re-testedafter the reintroduction of democracy (sometimes called as 'full-fledged'democracy; the ubiquitous term loktantra in Nepali). The democraticvalues are also yet to be institutionalised fully. With new horizons ahead,capacities should be enhanced to sort out and tackle new challenges.Nepal is formally going to be recognised by a growing number of states.But post-conflict space - at local-subordinate, elite and global levels - mayor may not be (informally) recognised, formalised and territorialised asa state or autonomous region of a state. Our post-conflict spaces are allproblematic when identified as territorial entities. Currently, the divisionsover the sovereign state highlight the tenuous nature of Nepali statehood.It may finally remain highly dependent on the regional politics of Asia andthe international politics of the wider world, if proper care is missed.It would not be false to say that, if the current economic and socialmalfunctions continue, and if we continue to accept our mere survivaland the notion that consents 'the existing situation is acceptable, becauseit could be worse'; we may remain a country in its past, continuing tocelebrate its past glories, heroic tales, legends and downfalls.13