Note no. 448	04-June-2008
NEPAL: Declaration of Republic and Thereafter: Update No. 160 By Dr. S. Chandrasekharan. Despite unanimity in declaring Nepal a republic during the first session of the Constituent Assembly on 28th May, the two mainstream political parties the Nepali Congress and the CPN (UML) and the Maoists are at loggerheads over sharing of power. While the Maoists insist that the posts of the Prime minister and the President should go to them, the other two main political parties insist that the Maoists could keep the prime minister’s post with executive powers and leave the President’s post which has more ceremonial content, to them and perhaps along with the speaker’s post in the new assembly. The Maoists have also not agreed to any amendment of the interim constitution to elect or remove the Prime minister by a simple majority. There has been no meeting point so far and they continue to be on a collision course. As before, the Maoists have threatened to quit the government and go to the streets from tomorrow if Koirala does not quit and hand over power to the Maoists. G.P. is unlikely to leave his post so soon, but as we have seen before the mainstream political parties will succumb to the pressure by finding a “face-saving solution.” The drama of sharing of “spoils” started even before the Constituent Assembly met on May 28. It would have been perfectly all right if the present status quo of the Prime minister acting also as Head of State continued until the new constitution comes into effect. If the fear was that once Prachanda becomes the Prime minister he cannot be removed (as neither consensus nor two thirds majority would be available), the simplest thing should have been to amend the constitution alone to make it a simple majority for electing or removing the Prime minister. This would also help Prachanda to save his face with his cadres and the people as he had gone to the polls promising that he would be leading the State as President if his party comes to power. Instead, both the NC and the UML having lost the elections and thus the mandate of the people to lead, want a major role in running the government. Their idea appears to be that once in government in an active portfolio they could keep the Maoists under check. Here they are mistaken as we had seen ever since the 12 point agreement of 2005, that the Maoists have had their way even when they were not in government! Declaration of Nepal as Republic: It was a historic day that on May 28, (Jestha 15) the newly formed constituent assembly passed a resolution with near total unanimity to declare Nepal as a sovereign democratic republic. K.P. Situala, the Home Minister tabled a resolution on behalf of the Prime minister that said “ The first meeting of the Constituent Assembly declares that Nepal is officially converted into a federal democratic republic from today. Nepal shall remain sovereign, independent and integrated, secular and inclusive.” It also said that all special, legal, cultural, social and traditional privileges, rights, honour and facilities the former King and his family used to enjoy in the past shall be automatically be scrapped. The resolution was passed by 560 of the 564 members present. Four members of the RPP voted against the resolution. The meeting that was to start at 11:00 A.M. in the morning was delayed by eleven hours due to last minute wrangles among the parties. Both the NC and the UML decided to back the resolution for a republic only after the Maoists conceded to create the posts of President and Vice President and also a Deputy Prime Minister. Thus after 239 years, eight months and three days the Shah dynasty from Gorkha that ruled Nepal from the valley came to an end. From a legal point of view, the resolution is irregular as the constitutional assembly is not in full strength as 26 members to be chosen by the Prime minister are yet to be inducted. In fact on this very issue a writ has been filed in the Supreme Court by one Ram Kumar Ojha of Nepal Janata Dal. Yet the overwhelming sense of the assembly was to get rid of monarchy and in the present circumstances the proclamation has to be treated as valid. A fourth amendment to existing interim constitution was also made for transfer of some of the posers exercised by the Prime minister to the President but only on the recommendation of the Prime Minister or the cabinet or the constitutional councils. These include Appointment of the Supreme Commander of the Army. Right to declare state of emergency on cabinet’s  recommendation Right to receive credentials of foreign ambassadors. Right to pardon and approve bills Right to appoint ambassadors and heads of constitutional bodies on the advice of the constitutional assembly and the appointment of Attorney General. It could be seen that most of the powers are ceremonial in nature and it is not clear how Koirala as President can exercise any real power as against a Maoist Prime Minister who is determined by fair or other means to restructure the country entirely. On 29th May, the flag with the royal emblem was lowered down in the Narayanhitty Palace. Later to add insult to injury, Prachanda with his colleagues travelled to Gorkha, the ancient seat of Shah Dynasty to unveil a sign board on the palace wall announcing the birth of a Federal Democratic Republic. Prachanda in the mass meeting that followed said “ I want to give the message that the Shah dynasty has ended in the same place from where it was expanded.” The Monarchy: It looks that the King has finally accepted the inevitable and had taken note of the CA’s resolution asking him to vacate Narayanhitty within 15 days. Media reports indicate that K.P. Situala met the King at the Palace on 2nd June with the heads of two committees formed to gather details of the palace’s infrastructure and belongings and another to recommend security arrangements in the Palace. The King was said to be calm and composed. He reportedly said that he accepted the proclamation of the constituent assembly and that he is ready to quit before the dead line. Separately to Situala, he expressed his concern about his security, the need to have separate houses for his step mother and grand mother and a separate palace for royals to live. These are small issues which should not be difficult. The Terai: The Terai leaders are up in arms. Having realised the need to have a common political and ideological agenda, the three parties the MJF, TMDP and the NSP have decided to have a common political and ideological agenda. The Terain parties do not seem to have realised that the current interim constitution does not recognise them at all although they have considerable strength in the assembly. Upendra Yadav has already put in his conditions for joining the government though it is not yet clear whether the Madhesi parties have been approached. His reiterated his demands that include- Immediate initiative for group wise recruitment of Madhesis in all sections of government including security and civil organisations. To conduct a scientific consensus of the Madhesi people. To form a high level commission to facilitate proportional representation of Madhesis in different forms of government. Maoist leaders should quit their posts in the PLA before joining the government. Cessation of the anarchic activities of the YCL. To return all seized properties to the rightful owners. Adjustment of Maoist army according to a consensus based policy under a certain time frame. Upendra Yadav should realise two things. First- he should be able to talk on behalf of all the Terains and for this he should try to get them all together. Second- he will not be able to cut down the violent activities of the YCL that is getting out of hand. The best he could do is to keep the YCL at bay at least in the Terai region. On the other hand, the Maoists having realised the crucial role the YCL played in getting the Maoists elected are planning to expand it in a big way. Badal ( CPN- Maoist)has already said on record that they would expand the YCL in a big way to ensure that they get all the 240 seats in the next elections!
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