Due to the arrival of disparate settler groups from outside through the ages, it is now a multiethnic, multicultural, multi religious, and multilingual country. Central Nepal was split in three kingdoms from the 15th century until the 18th century, when it was re-unified under the Shah monarchy. The national and most spoken language of Nepal is Nepali.
Nepal experienced a struggle for democracy in the 20th century. During the 1990s and until 2008, the country was in civil strife. A peace treaty was signed in 2008 and elections were held in the same year. In a historical vote for the election of the constituent assembly, Nepalese parliament voted to oust the monarchy in June 2008. Nepal was formally renamed the Federal Democratic Republic of Nepal when it became a federal republic.
To find out if all is still well with Nepalese politics
An unidentified Nepalese politician from the opposition party lifts a chair to throw, during the Constituent Assembly meeting, in Kathmandu, Nepal, Tuesday, Jan. 20, 2015. Opposition parties staged general strike to shut down Nepal on Tuesday as opposition politicians threw chairs and attacked the parliamentary speaker in a bid to block the government from pushing through a draft of a new constitution. Photograph: Bikram Rai/AP
At least three security marshals were injured in a brawl that broke out in Nepal’s parliament early on Tuesday, with opposition legislators climbing on their chairs and throwing microphones and shoes in a heated debate over the Himalayan nation’s new constitution.
The violence erupted during the late-night session as Maoist lawmakers attempted to prevent the ruling coalition from pushing ahead with a vote to settle several disputed points in the new constitution and have a draft of the document ready by their soft deadline on Thursday.
“This is their ploy not to let the constitution be prepared in time at any cost,” information and the communication minister, Minendra Rijal, told reporters.
A new constitution is widely seen as crucial to ending the instability that has plagued Nepal since the end of a Maoist-led civil war in 2006 and settling the republic, nestled between regional powers India and China that jostle to woo a new geopolitical ally.
But it has been thwarted by differences among political parties over how to divide the country into federal states.
The opposition, which includes former Maoist rebels as well as a string of small regional parties, wants to create 10 states and name them after different ethnic and marginalised groups.
The ruling centre-left alliance says Nepal, a country roughly the size of Greece with an economy dependent on aid and tourism, does not have enough resources to support several states, and says the creation of federal units along ethnic lines could spark communal tensions.
The government, which commands a parliamentary majority, has said it will go ahead with a vote on the disputed issues if opposition parties fail to agree on the sticking points.
In protest, the Maoist-led opposition called for a nationwide shutdown of schools, colleges, factories, businesses and public transport on Tuesday.
Police detained 30 people across the country for stoning vehicles and for arson.
Police said one Maoist lawmaker was injured when protesters clashed with police during the strike in Kathmandu.
A previous parliament missed several deadlines for the constitution before being dissolved in May 2012 because of deep divisions over the formation of the proposed federal states.
A second assembly was elected the following year, and political parties vowed to complete the task of writing the charter on 22 January.
Later on Tuesday, after the parliamentary session resumed, opposition legislators again forced the house to adjourn until Wednesday. There were no further injuries.
Source:http://www.theguardian.com/world/2015/jan/20/nepal-parliament-brawl-constitution-dispute
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