Project:Sandbox

Nepal (नेपाल), officially the Federal Democratic Republic of Nepal, is a landlocked country located in South Asia.

With an area of 147,181 square kilometres (56,827 sq mi) and a population of approximately 27 million,Nepal is the world's 93rd largest country by land mass and the 41st most populous country.

The mountainous north of Nepal has eight of the world's ten tallest mountains, including the highest point on Earth, Mount Everest, called Sagarmatha (सगरमाथा) in the Nepali language. More than 240 peaks over 20,000 ft (6,096 m) above sea level are located in Nepal. The southern Terai region is fertile and humid.

Hinduism is practiced by about 81.3% of Nepalis, making it the country with the highest percentage of Hindus. Buddhism is linked historically with Nepal and is practiced by 9%, Islam by 4.4%, Kiratism 3.1%, Christianity 1.4%, and animism 0.4%. A large portion of the population, especially in the hill region, may identify themselves as both Hindu and Buddhist, which can be attributed to the syncretic nature of Hinduism and Buddhism in Nepal.

Major Political parties

 * 1) Nepali Congress
 * 2) CPN-UML
 * 3) UPCN (Maoist)
 * 4) Madhes Jandhikar Forum

Political deadlock

 * The political turmoil in Nepal continues as the prospects of reaching a consensus over a new draft Constitution still appears bleak. The Constituent Assembly was expected to promulgate a new Constitution on January 22, but the political parties were unable to resolve their differences in order to complete the task.
 * The intense optimism that accompanied the nation’s transition from being a monarchy to a republic about a decade ago has turned into dismay with the political parties repeatedly failing to deliver on their promises.
 * Nepal witnessed a transition in 1990 from authoritarian monarchic rule to a constitutional monarchy, followed by a decade-long Maoist insurgency that ended in 2006 with a peace agreement and the overthrow of the monarchy in 2008.
 * The Interim Constitution of 2007 created a 601-member Constituent Assembly that also doubled as Parliament until a new Constitution was enacted. The Maoists emerged as the majority party in the April 2008 elections, but the Constituent Assembly failed to meet its 2012 deadline and so the Assembly stood dissolved and fresh elections were called.
 * The second Constituent Assembly that was convened in January 2014 also failed to draft a Constitution. Rivalry and squabbles amongst parties are the main reasons for the state of political dysfunction.
 * In the majority is a coalition of the Nepali Congress and the Unified Marxist-Leninist (UML) party that has a two-thirds majority in the Assembly. The Maoist party, which performed dismally in the second round of elections, has partnered with the Madheshi Morcha, a coalition of regional parties from the southern plains.

Multi-ethnic federalism vs State as per ethnicity

 * Federalism has become one of the most contentious issues to be resolved by the Assembly. This debate is closely tied to issues of identity and equality in a diverse nation with hundreds of communities, dialects and cultures.
 * The ethnic and regional parties demand a federal structure that recognises and grants political autonomy to their groups, while its opponents warn that such sectarian politics threaten the country’s unified national identity by fuelling ethnic conflicts among groups.
 * This genuinely significant problem of creating and redefining the essence and identity of a new constitutional democracy is, however, being jeopardised by power struggles among political parties that are exploiting and polarising the diversity of the regions for their own personal gains.

Two-third majority vs Consensus
UPCN (Maoist) and Madhesis demanding consensus approach to pass constitution on the place of earlier accepted 2/3rd majority norm.