by Our Foreign Desk

CONSTITUENT Assembly members in the capital Kathmandu gave a roar of approval yesterday when President Ram Baran Yadav signed the country’s new constitution into law.

The process took more than seven years to complete following a decade of political infighting and over 40 deaths in recent street protests.

“We believe that the adoption of the new constitution has now opened the path for development of the country,” Mr Yadav told the assembly.

The new document replaces an interim constitution that was supposed to be in effect for only a couple of years but has governed the nation since 2007.

The key part of the constitution, which was passed last Wednesday, sets Nepal up as a secular federation of seven states, each with a legislature and chief minister.

Some ethnic and religious groups say that the assembly ignored their concerns over how state borders should be defined.

They want more states, including ethnically based ones, bigger territory for larger groups and more seats for ethnic minorities in parliament and government.

Madhesi ethnic group leader Laxman Lal Karna said that protests would continue because the new constitution failed to address many issues.

“They may disagree with the size and make-up of these states, but that is not a really big issue,” said Prime Minister Sushil Koirala at the weekend.

He was supported by Khadga Prasad Oli of the Communist Party of Nepal (Unified Marxist-Leninist) who said: “The constitution is not something that cannot be absolutely changed.

“It can always be amended later when needed.”