Interim Constitution Draft
Plus Points
- I greatly appreciate the proactive approach.
- I appreciate the commitment to a democratic republic in the preamble. The country has to be declared a republic now so we can focus on more substantial issues in the assembly.
- I like the provision of getting the interim constitutoin promulgated by a large national conference, and not by the current parliament.
- I like it that the document is comprehensive.
- I like the idea of a new flag, although I am open to the option of other designs for the flag. (Republic Of Nepal Flag)
- I like the idea of the tri-lingual policy for government work. This is close to my own proposal. I am glad Nepali has not been named. But this language thing is tricky. This draft does not take care of all the details. But it will sure start a debate.
- The provision for a new national anthem is important. (भूपि शेरचन, गोपालप्रसाद रिमाल, प्रवर जिसी)
- The 2036 voter rolls to award citizenship papers in the Terai is a good point.
- I like the provision of honorary citizenships. Let's award one to Dr. Brian Cobb.
- The provision for reservations is a good one. It is about time.
- Untouchability has been made unconstitutional. That is important.
- I like the idea of parental property not automatically going to children.
- I like the special provision for the land rights of the indigenous peoples.
- The provision to be able to fire generals is important, and it should be used.
- I like it there is a retirement age set for the Supreme Court justices at 65. In some countries they stay there until they die.
- I like the provision of 50% seats for women.
- People 16 years and older can vote. I like that.
- The provision not to ban parties is important. It is called right to peaceful assembly.
- The group should also draft a Proposed Constitution that it would like to see the country adopt. This would be a document that would compete with the one that might come out of the constituent assembly. Now is not too early. There the various states would get demarcated.
- The document is a little too long.
- The provision that the fundamental rights can be suspended under certain circumstances is alarming, to say the least.
- The provision for citizenship is not clear and comprehensive enough. And there is no mandate to issue citizenship papers to all before the constituent assembly elections. That is not okay.
- The language issue is really tricky. I am glad this draft challenges the status quo fundamentally. But I think the alternate being proposed has to be refined. There are many practical details to be looked into.
- The provision against religious conversion is weird. It clashed with the basic human right of religious freedom.
- I am highly skeptical of the idea of a self reliant economy. You instead want an export-driven economy that trades a lot.
- There are elaborate discussions on the national economy that will be better off being part of some party's manifesto rather than the country's constitution.
- The draft talks of a repubic, and then of a Prime Minister. Should we not be talking of a president? The interim president should move into the Narayanhiti.
- The formation of the interim parliament is too vague. Because it is that interim parliament that will decide on the ground rules of the constituent assembly elections, it is important that parliament be reflective of the Nepali society in terms of ethnic and gender composition.
- The constituent assembly elections should take place within a year of the April Revolution, not within a year of the interim constitution getting promulgated.
- There is a suggestion to not having direct elections. That is alarming. Everyone who ends up in the constituent assembly has to be directly elected by the people, I think. The proposal of parties contesting with "lists" gives too much power to the party leaders.