Constituent Assembly Gets A New Life

Siddhi B. Ranjitkar

On the midnight of Friday, May 28, 2010, assembly members have amended the Interim Constitution of Nepal of 2007 and extended the life of the Constituent Assembly (CA) for a year. The CA has got two years for promulgating a new constitution and institutionalizing the republic brought by the sacrifices of so many proud sons and daughters of Nepal. However, Prime Minister Madhav Nepal did not do anything to promulgate a new constitution rather try to pull the country back to the previous status awarding the people that had been against building a new Nepal the martyrs have foreseen. So, Madhav Nepal has been a black hole in the current history of Nepal. He has been not only for not following the rule of law but also for not following the gentlemanly agreements in other words the rule of the game. So, he has been shamelessly staying on in the position of Prime Minister. How long he will continue to stay on in the position of the Prime Minister unethically remains to be seen as his team and he have been winning the game of politics playing fouls.

Country Nepal has been sitting on the volcano of politics since the morally bankrupt Nepali Congress (NC) and Communist Party of Nepal-Unified Marxist and Leninist (CPN-UML) leaders made Madhav Nepal a Prime Minister in May 2009. Since then Madhav Nepal has been honoring and even awarding the corrupt and unscrupulous personnel of the previous regime in one way or another causing dismay to the people that have sacrificed their lives and luxury for the love of republic.

The two-third majority votes have extended the term of the CA for a year on the midnight of Friday, May 28, 2010 following the marathon meetings and hard talks among the leaders of three major political parties such as UCPN-Maoist, NC, and CPN-UML throughout the day and the evening. Out of the 599 legislators present at the CA, 580 legislators have voted for the amendment bill; only five voted against it. Five legislators belonging to the pro-monarchist Rastriya Prajatantra Party-Nepal (RPP-N) opposed the bill, and voted against it following the whip Chandra Bahadur Gurung has issued to the legislators of his party to vote against it. Chairman of CA Subhas Nembang declared that the amendment bill has been passed as more than the required two-third majority of the lawmakers have voted for it.

Before holding the vote for the amendment bill, UCPN-Maoist leader Dev Gurung and Nepal Sadbhavana Party leader Sarita Giri have taken back the objection to the amendment bill registered at the secretariat of the CA citing the three major parties such as UCPN-Maoist, NC and CPN-UML have agreed on the consensus politics. They have registered the objection to the amendment bill, thinking it has undermined the opposition parties.

Law and Justice Minister Prem Bahadur Singh have presented the amendment bill to the legislature seeking an eighth amendment to the Interim Constitution of Nepal of 2007. Presenting the amendment bill, Minister Singh has said that the Interim Constitution of Nepal of 2007 needs to function until the promulgation of a new constitution and only the CA could promulgate a new constitution, so the need for extending the term of the CA amending the Interim Constitution of Nepal of 2007 arose.

Before voting on the amendment bill, leaders of the three major parties have reached a deal on breaking the political deadlock by working on the consensus politics. They have signed off a three-point deal including the immediate resignation of the prime minister. Chairman of UCPN-Maoist Prachanda, parliamentary party leader of NC Ram Chandra Poudel and chairman of the CPN-UML Jhalanath Khanal have signed off the document.

A Deal Paper (translated by the author of this paper): Following the people’s mandate given by the historical people’s movement, the Interim Constitution of Nepal of 2007, sustainable peace and the comprehensive peace agreement, we have reached the following deal:

1.    We are firmly committed to work on the consensus politics to fulfill the historical responsibility for making a new constitution and doing the remaining work without delay in completing the peace process.
2.    We agreed on extending the term of the Constituent Assembly for a year, as the work on building a new constitution has not been accomplished even though significant amount of work has been already done.
3.    We are ready to move forward to form a national consensus government following the agreement on completing the work and fulfilling the responsibilities mentioned above as soon as possible. We make it clear that to this end, the current Prime Minister will be ready to quit the position.

Chairman of UCPN-Maoist Prachanda, parliamentary party leader of NC Ram Chandra Poudel and chairman of CPN-UML Jhalanath Khanal have signed off on this deal paper.

Chairman of UCPN-Maoist Prachanda has said that the extension of the term of the CA for a year is the victory over the people conspiring to dissolve the CA.

However, the leaders of NC and CPN-UML have continued to play foul not setting the deadline for the Prime Minster to resign. These guys have many matters to deal. They might spent on discussing various matters and disagreeing on those matters another year, as Prime Minister Madhav Nepal acting as a traitor remains in power standing on the shoulders of so many unethical members of the CA.

On Friday, May 28, 2010, youths across the country have expressed their anger on the members of the CA for their failure in accomplishing the historical work on promulgating a new constitution. In Kathmandu, thousands of youths have assembly at the entrance to the CA building asking the political leaders for reaching consensus on extending the term of the CA. In Lalitpur, members of the Nepal Students Union marched around the town carrying the effigies of 601-CA members and then burnt them in effigies. Netra Pande in Kaski performed mock Vedic rituals to the CA members for their failure in writing the constitution in time. Youths have held various functions for putting pressure on the CA members to extend the term of the CA across the country.

Many people have charged the legislators with receiving the payments for doing nothing substantial for writing a new constitution and completing the peace process during their two-year term of CA members, wanted them to extend the term of the CA with their commitment to get a new constitution promulgated on time.

Nepal has been passing through a stormy transition from the feudal Hindu monarchy to a secular federal democratic republic after the end of a 10-year people’s liberation war. The Maoists have been fighting for a drastic change in the political setup for removing all the remnants of the feudal system while the leaders of NC and CPN-UML have been fighting for sparing the remnants of the feudal system to meet their interest.

US, Japan, EU have welcomed the extension of the term of the CA and hoped that Nepal would be able to complete the promulgation of a new constitution and complete the peace process during the extended term of the CA. They have also congratulated Nepalis on the occasion of celebration of the second republic day on Saturday, May 29, 2010.

Similarly, Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, The Netherlands, United Kingdom and the European Union Norway and Switzerland have welcomed the extension of the term of the CA and have hoped that leaders of the political parties would work with renewed strength to promulgate a new constitution on time.

On May 29, 2010, Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon welcomed the extension of the term of the Constituent Assembly that has been possible to get elected by the sacrifices of some 13,000 lives. In a statement issued by his spokesperson, Mr. Ban said that he “commends all parties concerned, their leaders and the Prime Minister, for the compromise that preserved the country's peace process, and for their commitment to national unity.” He has also called “on all the parties to solve other pending issues in the spirit of consensus and cooperation, to carry the peace process forward.”

For her part, the Secretary-General's Representative Karin Landgren has said that the extension of the Assembly “secures the continuation of the peace process and was made possible through intensive dialogue and readiness to compromise.” She has urged the parties to “continue in the spirit of compromise and with renewed dedication to the drafting of Nepal's new constitution and finding solutions to peace process commitments including a dignified and well-planned resolution of the future of the Maoist army personnel.”

The UN Mission in Nepal (UNMIN) set up in 2007 has been assisting the country with the peace process. Its mandate runs until September 15, 2010 and includes monitoring the management of arms and armed personnel of both the Maoists and the Nepal Army, and assisting in monitoring ceasefire arrangements.

On Saturday, May 29, 2010, one of the Vice-chairmen of UCPN-Maoist Dr Baburam Bhattarai unveiled the draft constitution titled "Constitution of People’s Federal Republic of Nepal of 2010" at Tundikhel in Kathmandu. The draft constitution makes the provision for the President as the chief executive of the government and the state, and people could call the president back before expiring the term of office if people wish so. It indicates that the politicians are still at odds and the Maoists have not reconciled with other political parties.

The Maoist have held a mass rally at Tundikhel in Kathmandu to mark the second anniversary of the Federal Democratic Republic of Nepal on Saturday, May 29, 2010, and have made public the draft constitution on this occasion. Addressing the mass rally, Dr. Bhattarai has said that his party has made the preliminary draft of a new constitution public for the public debate on it.

The draft constitution has made the provision for laying a foundation of socialism following the democratic norms and values, multi party polity, periodic elections, an inclusive and participatory governance system, economic, civil and human rights, press freedom, efficient, free and people-oriented judiciary and rule of law.

The draft constitution has also made the provision for fundamental rights such as rights to honorable life, property, expression, privacy, information, primary education in the mother tongues and free secondary level education, equal lineage rights to woman, and rights to free basic health facilities, and unemployment allowances.

Fresh signs have been appearing that the political leaders would continue to squabble over the power and delay in promulgating a new constitution as Prime Minister Madhav Nepal has shown no sign of quitting the job despite the deal the three leaders of UCPN-Maoist, NC and CPN-UML have reached on Friday, May 28, 2010 includes the firing of the Prime Minister.

The Madhav government has chosen to honor former army chief Rukmangad Katuwal allegedly involved in suppressing the People’s Movement in 2006 and Dhurja Prasad Rai indicted by a state-formed commission for ordering to use excessive force against the People’s Movement in 2006 provoking strong protests from the human rights organizations against awarding such decorations to the allegedly criminals on the occasion of the second anniversary of the republic day on Saturday, May 29, 2010.

In a statement released in Kathmandu on Sunday, May 30, 2010, National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) has said that its serious attention has been drawn to the government's decision on honoring individuals held responsible for trying to quell the 2006 people's movement by the Rayamajhi Commission and few other controversial figures on the occasion of the second Republic Day on Saturday, May 29, 2010.

NHRC has said, "When individuals found guilty of human rights violations are honored instead of being held responsible for their actions, then it gives an impression that the government itself is keen toward promoting impunity."

On the occasion of the second Republic Day on Saturday, May 29, 2010, President Dr. Ram Baran Yadav has awarded recognitions to various personalities for their contribution to different sectors of society.

The highest civilian award called ‘Nepal Ratna Man Padavi’ posthumously went to Supreme Commander of the people’s movement of 1990 Ganesh Man Singh for the extraordinary contribution made to the democracy in Nepal.

Similarly, the second highest award called ‘Rastra Gaurav Man Padavi’ is posthumously given to former Prime Ministers such as Girija Prasad Koirala and Manamohan Adhikari. However, they have hardly done anything to make Nepal proud of them.

‘Ujjwal Kritiman Rastradip-Second’ is awarded to Madhav Ghimire, Daman Nath Dhungana, Padma Ratna Tuladhar, Satya Mohan Joshi, Dr. Suresh Raj Sharma, Dr, Sanduk Ruit and Mahabir Pun for their contribution to their respective sectors.

The irony is that the Madhav government has awarded Former Army Chief Rukmangad Katuwal with the ‘Sikirtimaya Rastradeep-Third’ for keeping peace and security with honesty and dedication, the most controversial figure that has been responsible for creating the current political deadlock, and has awarded Armed Police Force (AFP) SSP Dhurja Kumar Rai with ‘Suprabal Jana-shevashree-Third’ for his contribution to the APF training, the man indicted for killing many protestors in the people’s movement in 2006.

Apparently, the political crisis has been resolved by the extension of the term of the CA for a year but the crisis continues. Victims of the brutality of the Nepal Army and the Police have already felt the pains caused by the Madhav government honoring culprits with awards on the republic day. Most of the Nepalis hope that the CA members would promulgate a new constitution in this period. However, if you judge the Madhav government by its current activities it seems that the leaders of NC and CPN-UML are for provoking Nepalis to a third people’s movement to institutionalize republic, democracy and the rule of law that have been the dreams of the thousands of martyrs that have sacrificed their beautiful lives for ending the despotic monarchy and for setting up a democratic republic of Nepal.

May 30, 2010.