Constitutional issues: Nepal
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2015: New constitution, Nepal
Time, Sept. 17, 2015
Rishi Iyengar
Nepal has finally passed a new constitution after years of political turmoil
The landlocked Himalayan nation’s parliament passed the constitution with 507 out of 601 members of its Constituent Assembly voting in favor, Agence France-Presse reported.
The new charter replaces an interim constitution that has governed the country since 2007, when a decadelong civil war culminated in the end of its Hindu monarchy. Since then, rival political parties have been at loggerheads over the document’s details, a disagreement that dragged on for years until the devastating earthquake of 2015 that claimed nearly 9,000 lives prompted a hasty reconciliation. The constitutional logjam was widely blamed for the delay in mobilizing rescue efforts, prompting the country’s three leading political stakeholders — the formerly antigovernment Maoists, the main communist party UML and the Nepali Congress — to begin the drafting process in June.
The constitution has not been without controversy, however, with the decision to divide the country into seven distinct provinces sparking protests that claimed at least 40 lives in recent weeks. Critics of the bill say the divisions will further marginalize Nepal’s ethnic minorities like the Tharu and Madhesi communities. A clause that increases barriers to Nepali children automatically acquiring their mothers’ citizenship has also been criticized as backward.
“Ownership of the document is important,” Lok Raj Baral, executive chairman of the Nepal Centre for Contemporary Studies, told AFP. “Even if it is a minority that does not accept it, the parties have to take an initiative to address the disgruntled elements.”
The general reaction, however, has been one of relief and positivity, with loud cheers reportedly breaking out in the assembly when Speaker Subash Nembang announced the passage of the bill.
“It is an issue of pride for all Nepalis that the people’s constitution has been passed from the Constituent Assembly,” Nepal’s Prime Minister Sushil Koirala tweeted.
Koirala has announced that he will step down once the constitution is in place, paving the way for a new government to take over.
Salient features of the new constitution
The Constitution of Nepal 2072 passed on Sept 16, 2015 by the Constituent Assembly meeting envisions a federal democratic republican and inclusive and prosperous Nepal by institutionalising the achievements of the democratic movements held in the country.
The Constituent Assembly (CA) has passed the constitution bill with two thirds majority. A total of 507 votes were cast in favor of the bill while 25 votes were cast against it. According to the interim constitution, two thirds majority is required to endorse the bill which means a total vote of 399 out of the 598 occupied seats in the CA would have sufficed to pass the bill.
All three major parties i.e. Nepali Congress (NC), CPN-UML and UCPN-Maoist along with a majority of fringe parties voted for the constitution bill. Rastriya Prajatantra Party-Nepal (RPP-N) led by Kamal Thapa however voted against the bill. Madhes-based parties had boycotted constitution drafting altogether.
A committee led by Baburam Bhattarai will polish the language and order of the new constitution before five copies of the final version goes to print.
The lawmakers will sign the five copies of Nepal’s Constitution-2072 and the CA Chair will authenticate the new constitution. The next meeting of the CA is scheduled for 5pm, 20 September when the new constitution will be promulgated by President Ram Baran Yadav.
Realising a dream cherished by the Nepali people since the past 65 years, the new constitution will formally take the country towards a federal structure from the existing unitary structure that remained rooted in the country for 240 years. The new statute has proposed to federate the country into seven federal units, which will be one of the significant changes to take place on the basis of the new constitution. The new constitution that will be formally promulgated on September 20 expresses the determination to build an equitable society on the basis of the principle of proportional inclusion and participation, by ensuring economic equality, prosperity and social justice. The preamble of the constitution also mentions people's competitive multi-party democratic system, civic freedom, fundamental rights, human rights, period election, voting rights, full press freedom, independent, fair and competent judiciary, building of a prosperous nation with the commitment to socialism based on rule of law, and democratic norms and values, and durable peace, good governance, development through the federal democratic republic.
Similarly, in order to get the citizenship by decent, one needs to have father or mother Nepali at the time of his/her birth. Protection of the age old religions and culture, secularism with freedom to adopt any religion are other salient features of the constitution. The executive rights of the country shall vest on the Council of Ministers while the President would be ceremonial head-of-the-state. Similarly, a bi-cameral federal parliament, a constitutional bench in the Supreme Court, and formation of constitutional commissions on national natural resources and finance, on national inclusion, on indigenous nationalities, on Madhesi, on Tharu and on Muslim are other features of the new constitution that is finally coming after two CA elections and almost a decade of constitution drafting process.
2015: Secularism retained
The Times of India, Sep 15 2015
Kathmandu
Nepal rejects Hindu nation proposal, to stay secular
Nepal's Constituent Assembly has rejected calls to remove the key term secularism from the new Constitution and revert the Himalayan nation to a Hindu state, triggering protests by Hindu activists. As the Constituent Assembly resumed voting on individual articles of the Constitution draft, more than two-thirds of the lawmakers rejected the amendment proposal to make Nepal a Hindu state and reaffirmed that it will remain a secular nation.
The proposal was made by Rastirya Prajatantra Party (RPP) Nepal or National Democratic Party Nepal, a pro-Hindu group, which demanded that secularism be removed from the Constitution in the Article 4 and Hindu state be mentioned instead. RPP's Kamal Thapa demanded split voting, the Himalayan Times reported. Thapa's call received the support of only 21 lawmakers in the 601-seat Assembly .
