A leading human rights activist and member of the Constituent Assembly, Ms Sapana Pradhan Malla has said the new constitution of Nepal can still be drafted within the stipulated time frame.
CA member Malla.
Addressing the sixth Annual Lecture of the Britain-Nepal Academic Council (BNAC) at SOAS, University of London on Thursday as a keynote speaker, Ms Malla said constitution making was a political act and that there was a need for all political parties come together for nation-building. “Revolution has no end and rights have no barrier,” said Malla adding, “Women in Nepal were challenging the political structure itself so as to ascertain their rights.”
Speaking on the theme, “Inclusive Republican Democracy and Women’s Rights in Nepal,” Ms Malla said Nepal had come a long way in creating a fairer and more inclusive society. She outlined the campaign that women’s rights organisations had played in achieving equality for women in all walks of public life in general and property rights of women in particular. She said that law reform was a major tool in achieving equality for women.
She noted with some satisfaction that the constituent assembly had about 33% women members, but asserted that only 9% women were in actual decision making or influential positions within the government and party political structure. She also stated that there was still a long way to go in achieving effective and equitable representation of women in all branches of the government and especially the judiciary where the representation of women was very low.
Speaking from Chair, Professor Surya Subedi identified six main challenges facing the nation and the Constituent Assembly: (i) How best to address the issue of federalism while maintaining the unity of the nation; (ii) How to empower women and people belonging to traditionally marginalised ethnic and janjati groups; (iii) how to strengthen the rule of law and make democracy more genuine and stronger; (iv) which system of government to adopt in the future – whether it should be presidential, parliamentary or some sort of a mixed system; (v) What sort of electoral system to adopt for future elections – whether the country should continue with the present mixed electoral system or go for a different system; (vi) how best to adopt a constitution that is conducive to economic development, lasting peace, and prosperity for the people of Nepal for generations to come.
The annual lecture was attended by British academics interested in different facets of Nepal, including anthropology, political economy, law, literature and culture, history, art, tourism, health and nutrition etc, and scholars and intellectuals of the Nepalese community living in the UK as well as representative of various national and international organisations and students studying at various British universities.
This year’s annual lecture of the Academic Council was sponsored by the Bhandari Brothers of the UK. The Council thanked the Bhandari Brothers for their support and generosity. All four Bhandari brothers, Pashupati, Shankar, Kamal and Yadav, were also present at the annual lecture and Professor Subedi thanked each of them for their support and generosity. nepalnews.com Nov 08 08