Prime Minister of Nepal Sushil Koirala has reiterated his firm opposition against taking ethnicity as a basis for the federalization of the country. A federal arrangement should be included in Nepal's new Constitution, currently under discussion. Koirala argues that ethnic ideologies have led to several crises around the world.

Since the fall of the monarchy in 2008, the Nepalese parties are trying to reach a consensus on turning the country into a federal state. Koirala's Nepali Congress advocates a federal system based on multiethnic regions. The Congress has a relative majority in the Constituent Assembly, which should draft the Constitution of Nepal. The text should specify what kind of federalism will be used in the country. The second strongest party, the Communist Party of Nepal (Marxist-Leninist), maintains a similar approach to the issue to the Nepali Congress's.

In contrast, the Unified Communist Party of Nepal (Maoist) wants each main ethnic group to be granted its own federal region. The Maoists are the third largest party in the Constituent Assembly. Maoist Chairman Pushpa Kamal Dahal (Prachanda), believes that, in fact, the other parties do not really wish a federal Nepal. The Maoist leader fears that this will prevent parties to agree on federalization, and this topic will finally be excluded from the Constitution.

(Image: Sushil Koirala / picture by Krish Dulal.)