As May 28 approaches, concerns over whether the new constitution will be promulgated by that deadline are naturally growing. Nepal has already experimented with six different constitutions in last six decades. None of them could survive for a long time. Therefore, one cannot predict how long the new constitution will last. Given the current disputes, it is also inevitable that the new constitution will land in controversy, once it is promulgated. In this context, we decided to look at the constitution making process and disputes involved in this week’s cover story. The activities going on inside and outside the Constituent Assembly indicate that the new constitution, even if it is promulgated, may not give a durable solution to the long running political instability. Nepal’s hard geostrategic realities are its two giant neighbors. Inside home, many voices of differences and dissents coming from a range of political and ethnic organizations have complicated the problems. Disagreements pervade from the top to the bottom of the constitution making process. Even in the best case scenario at the moment, the new constitution looks likely to face a fate similar to the one experienced by the previous six constitutions that Nepal experimented with before.


Writing a constitution is not a difficult task. The best constitution could be produced within a month as said by Professor Surya Subedi of Lloyd University of London. The difficult task is to make the document work for decades to come.


Finally, I would like to extend greetings to all our readers on the occasion of happy new year 2068.