KATHMANDU: Nepal's Prime Minister Sushil Koirala on Wednesday cancelled plans to visit the United States so he can hold talks on a new constitution that has triggered deadly protests in parts of the country.
Koirala will meet regional parties opposed to the new charter adopted on Sunday, his foreign adviser told AFP.
Plans to divide the country into seven provinces under a federal structure have infuriated some parties. They say the new internal borders will leave some historically marginalised groups under-represented in the national parliament.
More than 40 people have died in weeks of clashes between police and protesters belonging mainly to the Madhesi and Tharu ethnic minorities, who inhabit the southern plains bordering India.
"Because of the domestic political situation, Prime Minister Sushil Koirala will not go to the US," said Dinesh Bhattarai, the adviser.
"He will stay home... so he can hold talks with political parties opposed to the constitution."
Koirala was scheduled to address the United Nations General Assembly next week about the new constitution, the first to be drawn up by elected representatives in the Himalayan nation.
The ongoing protests have sparked concern in neighbouring India, which has traditionally exerted significant political influence in Nepal.
In a sharply worded statement, New Delhi said it had "repeatedly cautioned the political leadership of Nepal to take urgent steps to defuse the tension in these regions".
"We still hope that initiatives will be taken by Nepal's leadership to effectively and credibly address the causes underlying the present state of confrontation."
The charter is the final stage in a peace process that began when Maoist fighters laid down their arms in 2006 after a decade-long insurgency aimed at abolishing an autocratic monarchy and creating a more equal society.
But rights groups including Amnesty International have criticised the constitution, saying it discriminates against women by making it more difficult for mothers to pass on citizenship to their children compared with fathers.
"The new constitution has a number of major human rights shortcomings which... need to be urgently addressed," said David Griffiths, Amnesty's research director for South Asia.
"In particular, the rights of women and marginalised communities are not clearly and sufficiently protected."
Work on the constitution began in 2008 after the Maoists won parliamentary elections and abolished the monarchy. But power-sharing squabbles between parties stymied progress on the draft.
Lawmakers finally reached agreement in June this year, spurred by a 7.8-magnitude earthquake two months earlier that killed nearly 8,900 people and destroyed more than half a million homes.
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