He said the main spirit of the movement for federalism was to liberate the downtrodden communities who had been suppressed for centuries by feudals. [break]
Dahal also said that the state can do justice to the communities only by empowering them with special rights for a certain period. "We can provide them justice only by empowering them with special rights as compensation for centuries of oppression," the Maoist chief said at a function organized by an umbrella body of Newar communities in the capital on Tuesday.
The Maoist chief was of the view that there was no point at all in delineating the country into some provinces and local units in the name of federalism if the federal units are not empowered with right to self-determination and social justice.
"That will be no different than delineation of the country into 14 zones and 75 districts during the Panchayat," he said.
- Oppressed communities need to be compensated by empowering them with special rights: Dahal
- Parties can´t backtrack on their decision to make autonomous and independent federal units: Khanal
- Restructuring the country entirely along ethnic-based federal line can prove counterproductive: Mahat
Dahal said number of provinces is not a big deal. "It can be six or eight or 14. But the essence of the matter is whether the center delegates power to the federal units or not," he explained at the gathering.
Speaking at the same function, CPN-UML Chairman Jhalanath Khanal said the parties can´t backtrack from their decision to make autonomous and independent federal units. "Other things will be determined by a high-level state restructuring commission envisioned by the Interim Constitution," he said.
Dr Ram Sharan Mahat of Nepali Congress said restructuring the country entirely along ethnic-based federal line can prove counterproductive.
He emphasized on the need for adopting a balanced model determined on the grounds of identity, economic viability, administrative accessibility, geographic situation and historic continuity. Mahat said restructuring a tiny country like Nepal into large number of units would not help the country to become economically sustainable.
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