Nepal parties propose 7 province model of federalism

Nepal's special committee entrusted to divide the country into federal provinces today decided to add one more unit and opt for a seven-province model, in an effort to address the concerns of political parties protesting against the earlier model.
The first five provinces that were agreed upon earlier more or less remained unchanged in the new model, according to Constitutional Political Dialogue and Consensus Committee (CPDCC) chairman Baburam Bhattarai.
However, Thori Village Development Committee of Parsa district, bordering Chitwan, has been kept in Province No 3.
The sixth province, which was the biggest in size in the earlier model, has now been split into two: Province No 6 and Province No 7.

The federal model or the number of provinces, their demarcation and naming have become a major contention for the Nepalese political parties to promulgate the new Constitution.
Following the agreement, the Constitution Drafting Committee will finalise its report and prepare the final draft of the Constitution, in the form of a Constitution Bill, which will then be tabled at the Constituent Assembly.

Biggest political parties Nepali Congress, CPN-UML and UCPN-Maoist, had on August 8 proposed a six-province model.
Now this has been revised to add one more province after the former model sparked protests mainly in the western Nepal.
Protests were launched by different ethnic groups mainly in including Jumla and Surkhet of western Nepal expressing dissatisfaction over merger of the Far-West Development Region with most parts of the Mid-Western Development Region.

While three persons were killed in protests in Surkhet, people of Karnali had demanded an autonomous Karnali region.
However, the Madhesi parties which are organising protests in southern Nepal, have not yet shown their approval to the new model as well.
The sixth province will contain the districts and region east of the Karnali River, while the seventh will contain the districts and region west of Karnali River.
Top leaders of the four major parties -- Nepali Congress president Sushil Koirala, CPN-UML chairman KP Sharma Oli, UCPN-Maoist chairman Pushpa Kamal Dahal and Madhesi Peoples Rights Forum-Democratic chairman Bijaya Kumar Gachhadar -- had taken part in the Special Committee meeting.

Top Madhesi leader Gachhadar later walked out of the Special Committee, expressing his reservations over the six Province model.