International Involvement in Nepali Constitution-Making Hall

It feels like the Nepali constitution will be an authentically Nepali-made document. Although they speak of it sometimes, major international actors seem to remain silent from any continuous involvement with Nepali constitution making. This is not the truth however. The foreign involvement in the constitution is evident and it is concentrated to one message only at this point: the maintenance of order among the members of the constitution-making body. Apart from that, the details of the Nepali constitution are not of importance at the moment, as if to suggest that for Nepali politicians to come to order is a significant progress at this point in the constitution-making process. We are fooled by the brevity of the foreign message into thinking that there is no message at all. In short, the main message from international parties can be encapsulated in one word: “Order! Order!”

What can feel and look like the complete absence of a foreign power is more likely to be an even broader, more authoritative involvement on foreign power's part. Micro-managing with regards to the smaller details of the Nepali constitution is the job of those with less power, not more. Having said this, however, it should be noted that once the members involved in constitution-making really come to order, then other more detailed messages will arrive from abroad. No longer will the foreign message be to Nepalis to “be patient” and “let the formal constitution-making process play out,” but it will be established in relations with individual political figures directly.

While the foreign powers spread the message of “Order!” the Nepali politicians choose to act through acts of vandalism and disruption, which is not the mark of a sustained political response, but rather appears to be the act of a more passive group without proper avenues to express politically. At once, in Nepal, the avenue and channel for political expression has been concentrated to one hall, with great opportunities for monitoring and controlling of the Nepali political process and activity. (Also, within the hall, the differences in power between two politicians are so nuanced and marginal that politicians do not attempt "political power games" to dominate other less powerful politicians, so that all politicians appear as passive and powerless.) Outside the assembly hall, political activity seems to be quite infrequent and low in intensity these days. The assembly hall is like a detention center: it is a place to isolate those politicians who if left to the streets will cause much disruption in Nepal. This means that the assembly hall did not come after a completed peace-process, but it is a necessary place to try and complete the peace-process itself.