Friday, August 25, 2006

Critiquing The Interim Constitution


  1. I am about to go read it right now. But just flipping through it, the most offensive part I found was on the last page. There is this thing called the Nishana Chhap. It looks too much like the old order.
  2. And looks like they have retained the old flag. That displeases.
  3. Now let's go read.
  4. There is no mention of the April Revolution in the preamble. That is a big mistake. The first major world revolution of the 21st century has not even been mentioned.
  5. The document is too long, looking at first glance.
  6. The sovereignty rests with the people. This is to be a first for Nepal.
  7. The Nepali language has been given special status. That is a little problematic.
  8. There is a need for an interim flag. This flag will not do. The sun and the moon are to do with royal dynasties, past and present.
  9. The cow can not be the national animal in a secular state. Do we even need a national animal?
  10. The national flower is Pahadi. That ignores half the country.
  11. Same with the national bird. Both suggest Nepal is a Pahadi country.
  12. Using the 2036 voters' list to grant citizenship papers is positive. Now do it.
  13. Men marrying Nepali women do not get citizenship papers. That is problematic. That is sexist. Women marrying Nepali men do get it.
  14. It is positive that the citizenship papers will be provided to all those eligible before the elections to the constituent assembly. That right there is the number one issue in the Terai.
  15. The word Madhesi has been mentioned. This is the first time. Otherwise the Nepal government has never before recognized that identity.
  16. The provision against untouchability is commendable. Now bring forth laws, and law enforcement mechanisms to apply the same.
  17. The provision for primary health care free of cost is important. Now implement.
  18. Free secondary education is an important milestone. Education in one's primary language is too vague. What exactly does it mean? What are the logistical details involved?
  19. Unemployment benefits are a necessary provision.
  20. I like the protection of right to property while at the same time making room for major land reform.
  21. Right to parental property to women is an important provision. And the one third reservation to women at all levels of government is the most important thing to have come out of the April Revolution so far.
  22. It is just that that one third also needs categorization so you don't end up with a whole bunch of Bahun women in there.
  23. The primary goal of the state is to hold the elections to a constituent assembly. That clarity I appreciate.
  24. The provision about using the hydro resources and making Nepal a self-reliant economy are out of place. Those are manifesto stuff, not constitution stuff. Besides, what is a self-reliant economy? We are all part of a global economy.
  25. There is a lot of economic stuff that do not belong in a constitution. They are political party manifesto stuff. And some of them are frankly misleading. Some are flat wrong as policy proposals.
  26. The provision of land for the freed Kamaiya is an important one. Now implement.
  27. The interim parliament is still not decided upon. It has rightly been left to the eight parties.
  28. Just like for the interim parliament, the details for the constituent assembly elections have been left blank. And that is good. Let the eight parties decide on that.
  29. The procedures for the constituent assembly are the most important item on the agenda for now. If we don't do the procedures right, the constitution we get will be faulty.
  30. I think article 66 is suggesting all members of the constituent assembly have to be directly elected. That is important.
  31. Two years for the constituent assembly is a lot of time. And the option to add six months to that term. Does the country really need that much time to write a constitution? But I guess I can settle for that. There will still be a government. And the parties always will have the option to do it sooner. But I doubt they will. If you give the constituent assembly two years, the parties will take two years. If you make provisions for one year, that is all the time the parties will take.
  32. The worst part of this two year provision will be that the political parties now will not feel the need to write complete drafts of their proposed constitutions before they face the people before the constituent assembly elections. That will be a disservice.
  33. Let each party write their version of a proposed constitution for the country before the elections. That will be the best way to move forward.
  34. There is a provision to form a committee that will work to make the people aware of the constituent assembly. That is positive. But it feels too small.
  35. The provision of a district court is problematic. 16 of the 75 districts are in the Terai, so the Terai will get only 16 courts for half the country's population.
  36. The stuff on the judiciary is quite elaborate. I keep thinking, how do you turn the whole thing more efficient?
  37. Bringing the army under the Public Service Commission is a hugely positive act.
  38. But the provision of reservations has not been written down. I thought the seven parties passed something to that effect. 45% reservations in the civil service for the DaMaJaMa.
  39. There is a provision for federalism. Althought there is no specific map presented. Such a map would be a political decision for the parties. The Maoists are the only ones with a map right now. So there is a provision for the Maoist version of federalism, kept in brackets.
  40. There is a provision for forming eight party governments at the village/town/city and district levels. That is very positive. That is the best way to cure the country of the Maoist fears, some justified, some irrational.
  41. There is a provision saying the party candidates for the constituent assembly have to be "diverse," but that is too vaguge except for the women who get one third of the seats.
  42. The interm Prime Minister is to be the Commander In Chief of the two armies. That was a necessary provision.
  43. An eight party committee is to look after the two armies. That was a necessary provision.
  44. What is this talk of a militia? You just need an army, and a police. What militia?
  45. A referendum decides the fate of the monarchy. Good.

Text Of The Interim Constitution

Interim Parliament: 101 Members Total
Who Will Tie The Bell Round The Cat's Neck
Direct Elections, One Seat For Every 100,000 People, Reservations, Primaries
UML Thoughts On Interim Constitution
Critiquing The Nepali Congress Proposed Constitution
नेपाली कांग्रेसको संविधान मस्यौदा
Critiquing The Maoist Proposed Constitution
माओवादीको संविधान मस्यौदा
Indigenous Nationalities Peace Commission Nepal: Interim Constitution

Interim Constitution Draft
Interim Constitution, Revolutionary Parliament
Constituent Assembly: 300 Seats Of Roughly Equal Population
Proposed Constitution

In The News

ICDC submits draft of the interim constitution; major political issues undecided NepalNews
Maoists must behave as a political party, not as a parallel govt.: Krishna Pahadi
Oil crisis and the 'Nepali Drama'
Political solution is more important than arms management: Badal
Army changed with changed political environment: Katawal
Attack on ‘anti-Maoist’ demo leaves over dozen injured

Nepal gays to celebrate public marriage Daily News & Analysis, India
Nepal draft statute for sweeping changes Hindu, India
Interim Constitution Draft For Nepal: King No Head Of State!? United We Blog
Interim Constitution handed over to Nepal Govt, Maoist negotiators Zee News
Panel submits interim statute to Nepal government, Maoist teams Raw Story

ICDC hands over draft constitution Kantipur Publications
NEPAL-INDIA TRADE MEET: Comprehensive Economic Agreement proposed
Maoists loot houses in Rupandehi
OHCHR Indigenous and Minorities team visits Nepal
ICDC to submit draft statute today, some key issues still remain unresolved
Govt nudging CA elections into obscurity: Badal
NA has changed with the times: Acting CoAS Katuwal
4 US Congressmen in capital
Maoists injure 18 demonstrators
Nepal proposes route for Sino-India trade
स्थायी शान्ति प्रक्रिया
विद्यालयमा सैन्य क्याम्प राखेकोमा आपत्ति
माओवादीविरुद्ध प्रदर्शन
सामाजिक रूपान्तरणका लागि नागरिक सभा
अन्तरिम संविधान आज बुझाइने
बेनी-जोमसोम राजमार्गको रेखांकन परिवर्तन
मुक्त कमैयाले सिंहदरबार घेर्ने
नियुक्तिको नीति
माओवादीको झूठो व्यवहार
संघात्मक व्यवस्था विखण्डनकारी
भड्किलो तीज
महिला अभिव्यक्तिको मञ्च
अपराधमा राजनीतिक संरक्षण

On The Web

Ram Vilas Paswan - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Rediff On The NeT: An interview with Ram Vilas Paswan, the federal ...
The Hindu : Q & A : Ram Vilas Paswan
Ram Vilas Paswan: Information From Answers.com
Profile on HindustanTimes.com dated June 2004 Paswan's name had figured in the Guinness Book of World Record for winning the parliamentary election with the highest number of votes.....
Profile on Ambedkar.org Ram Vilas Paswan was elected to the Bihar State Assembly in 1969 as a member of die Samyutka Socialist Party. At the time he had considerable attraction to the Naxalite movement and no faith whatsoever in non-vio-lence.' .... In the election of 1977 he won a reserved Parliamentary seat for the Janata Party, and with the exception of the period from 1984 tO 1989 has been a member of the Lok Sabha ever since. .... His object was to be seen as the national leader of the Dalits, while simultaneously promoting himself as a strong leader of other out-groups - the Backwards and also the Muslims, from whom he claims to have particularly strong personal support....... On the walls of the public rooms of his New Delhi residence there are now more likenesses of Ambedkar than of anyone else. ..... Paswan cannot afford to surrender any part of the Ambedkar legacy to his principal rival, Kanshi Ram...... One practical obstacle is that his spoken English is sufficient only for limited private conversation, and he therefore has no real capac-ity to build a mass following outside the Hindi belt........ in 1996. Deve Gowda installed his Janata Dal partyman Ram Vilas as his principal political lieutenant. Always energetic, as Minister for Railways Paswan rapidly turned this classic source of patronage into an instrument to promote die interests of Dalits. He claims, for example, that he has been able to regularise the position of thousands of temporary sweepers in the railways..... When Congress brought down Gowda's Government at the end of March 1997, Paswan was one of the names mentioned as a possible replacement Prime Minister. But the position went to an establishment politician, the then Foreign Minister I.K. Gujral...... The major way ahead is to train Dalits so that they have marketable skills. He sees it as important to extend the principle of reservation to the developing private sector. Whatever his youthful origins, Paswan is now far from a social revolutionary. He is against the assertion of any animus against the upper castes - his second wife is an upper-caste Sikh - and Brahmins in particular. Rather, his overall goal is to work towards ensuring that Dalits and other out-groups get their fair share of social goods.

Reserved political positions - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia Pakistan, Iran and Bangladesh reserve a fixed number of parliamentary seats for non-Muslims. ..... India has its 15% of seats in the Parliament of the country, State Assemblies, Local Municipal Bodies and Village level institutions reserved for untouchable castes, also called Dalits or Scheduled Castes. Similarly 7.5% are reserved for tribes or the aborigines.The election of Untouchables and Tribes candidates is by a Joint or mixed electorate , which includes all religions voters like Hindu, Muslim etc and all castes including Untouchables and tribes, vote. This is different from separate electorate practiced in other countries. Two Indian states, Kerala and Bihar, have parliamentary reserved seats for the Anglo-Indian community. .... Afghanistan has reserved seats in the parliament for women as well as for the Kuchi nomadic minority.
International IDEA Women in Politics: Women In Parliament: Using ...
Is Afghanistan Ready for Women in Parliament?

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