Nepal’s missions in the Gulf and Malaysia have urged Nepalis working there to provide feedback on the draft constitution. Nepali embassies in Malaysia, Saudi Arabia, Qatar, United Arab Emirates and Kuwait are also holding various consultations besides facilitating the feedback collection process.

The government had directed its missions in the major labour receiving countries to hold public consultations to incorporate the voice of migrant population into the new constitution. An estimated 3.5 million Nepalis, mostly youth, work in the Gulf countries and Malaysia.

“The missions are organising various consultation programmes to collect feedback on the draft. Many migrant workers are themselves providing suggestions via email,” said Foreign Minister Mahendra Bahadur Pandey.

Around 30 percent of the total feedback received via email came from Nepalis living abroad, according to the Constituent Assembly Secretariat.

Concerned officials, however, say the inflow of feedback is not encouraging compared to people living there. “The feedback so far from overseas is not as encouraging as in Nepal as people are occupied with their work. But many people are participating in the consultation progress and providing feedback on their own,” said an official at Nepali embassy in Malaysia.

Besides email, the embassies are also receiving feedback through fax and telephone.
Nepalis living abroad can submit their feedback , suggestions and recommendations on the draft until Tuesday.

A majority of Nepali migrants who attended the consultation at the Nepali embassy in Kuala Lumpur on Monday suggested the government replace the word “secularism” with “religious freedom” and adopt a directly-elected presidential system.

Many speakers, including Nepal’s Ambassador to Malaysia Niranjan Man Singh Basnyat, spoke in favour of referendum. They also asked the government to replace the cow with the one-horned rhino as a national animal, make military training mandatory for all citizens above 18 years old and change the national flag. “Though secularism is good, it would be best to decide through religious freedom,” said Ambassador Basnyat.

Most of the speakers asked the CA to heed public suggestions instead of confining the consultation process as routine work.  Meanwhile, many overseas indigenous organisations and international wings of Madhesi and Janajati parties have burned and tore the copies of draft, claiming that the draft attempts to curtail the rights of historically marginalised groups and communities.

Published on: 21 July 2015 | The Kathmandu Post