Eighth State: Khasan

Proposed Constitution

I propose an eight state federalism for Nepal: Madhesh, Tharuwan, Kirat, Newa, Tamang, Tamuwan, Magarat, Khasan.

The president has to be directly elected. And if no candidate gets at least 50% of the votes cast, a second round election between the two top candidates has to be held.

The central government has a lower and an upper house. I propose a total of 300 seats. Each state will get seats in direct proportion to its population. And the seats have to be roughly of equal population. For the upper house, the entire country is one constituency, and there is a separate ballot, and there are 100 seats. Any party that gets at least 1% of the votes qualifies. A party may not be armed. Other than that there are no rules. As in, it is perfectly okay to have ethnic parties. It is called the basic human right to peaceful assembly.

Each state is to have a lower and an upper house. Members of the lower house are directly elected in constituencies that are roughly of equal population. The state decides how many constituencies there will be. Members of the upper house will be indirectly elected through proportional representation. There will be a separate ballot.

As for revenue, the central government keeps 50% of its total budget, and hands over the rest to the states. Each state gets an amount in direct proportion to its population. A state keeps 50% of its total budget. The rest goes to the districts. The district keeps 50% of its total budget. The rest goes to the village/town/city, in direct proportion to its population.

The income tax is to be collected by the central government. People in the bottom 40% income brackets will not pay any income tax. The income tax is to be distributed as follows: 50% central government, 30% state government, 10% district government, 10% village/town/city.

Only the state may collect any sales tax. A state might choose not to.

The governor of each state is to be directly elected.

The central government will have no power to dismiss state governments.

Defense and Foreign Policy stay with the central government. Other than that, each level of government participates. On issues like law enforcement, education, and health, all levels of government have to participate.

All book keeping at all levels of government is to stay transparent. All deliberations in the state and central legislatures are to stay transparent.

All political parties are to be state funded. A party must get at least 1% of the votes cast for the central upper house to qualify. The money allocated will be in direct proportion to the number of votes earned.

Proposed Constitution

When the Madhesi Janajati Kranti declares a federal republic, with Upendra Yadav as interim President, and Om Gurung as interim Vice President, this is what I propose be adopted.

There is to be a fundamental restructuring of the state bureaucracy - the ministries, the army, the police - through the constituent assembly. All members to the constituent assembly will be directly elected through proportional representation. The assembly will function as a parliament for three years. It will also write the country's permanent constitution. That constitution will be subject to a referendum.

That constituent assembly will elect the first President of Nepal. That will be the last time the country will get an indirectly elected President. That president's term expires with that of the assembly.

The best part of the formula presented above is that it reads like a mathematical formula. There is this mathematical elegance to it. It basically is the vertical implication of one person, one vote extrapolated.

All Nepalis should feel very much at home in all eight states. And we should expect much economic migration.

In The News

Govt brushes aside demand for Home Minister’s resignation NepalNews the government today threw its weight behind the Home Minister. ..... Badu said there was no discussion on Home Minister’s resignation during the cabinet meeting. He also termed the demand for Sitaula’s resignation as ‘personal’. .... NC central leader and Prime Minister Koirala’s daughter Sujata and few other NC men have gone on record to suggest that Situala should resign by taking responsibility for the loss of lives and property during recent protests in Terai. They maintain that his resignation could create favourable atmosphere for talks with agitating Madhesi groups. ..... Situala, an influential NC leader, has said he would not step down unless the Prime Minister asks him to do so. The Maoists, who initially opposed the idea of dialogue with the MJF and two factions of Janatantrik Terai Mukti Morcha (JTMM), have already sided with Situala saying there is no need for him to quit
MJF reiterates demand for Home Minister’s resignation
Strike paralyses life in various districts Vehicles remained off the road in a number of eastern and western Terai districts ..... Sunsari, Sarlahi, Mahotttari, Janakpur, Siraha, Bara, Parsa, Rautahat, Nawalparasi,Rupandehi, Kapilvastu, Banke and Bardiya were the worst affected districts by the strike. ..... Transaction in Birgunj, Biratnagar and Nepalgunj customs offices was nil, though business in Bhairahawa customs office was normal ..... Chepangs today announced a transport strike in four different districts in central and western development regions, demanding "Chepang autonomous region". .... Transport services have been halted and bazaars remain closed in Makwanpur, Chitwan, Dhading and Gorkha district due to the protest. .... There are nearly 15,000 Chepangs in the country.
Prachanda decries efforts at disrupting communal harmony Addressing a mass gathering in Nepalgunj on Tuesday, Prachanda said the Madhesi Janadhikar Forum (MJF) was engaged in hurting communal harmony between hill-dwellers and plain-dwellers in Terai region. Likewise, he claimed, various elements were working to hurt communal harmony among various ethnic communities, as well. ..... activists of MJF clashed with Maoist cadres at Puraina VDC of Banke district when buses carrying Maoist cadres were obstructed by the MJF activists. Four MJF activists and one Maoist cadre was injured in the incident. ..... Since the Maoists had vandalised MJF's public program in Nepalgunj a few days ago, the Maoists had deployed thousands of their cadres to provide security to their program on Tuesday to prevent MJF's reprisal.
FNCCI urges for no strikes during SAARC car rally
ICG suggests inclusive constitution for Nepal
Restructuring Nepal As per 2001 Statistics, out of 104 different races (Jat Jatis) in Nepal, each of the 46 Jatis are less than 0.1 percent of the total population, each of the 32 Jatis are less than 0.1 to 0.5 % each in population, each of the 14 Jatis are 0.6 to 2 % in population, each of the 9 Jatis are 2 to 7% in population, and the three Jatis, people of Khas origin comprise 30.01 % of the total population (Brahimin -12.74%, Chhetri -15.8%, and Thakuri1.47 %). ..... Divide and rule through the mechanism of favoritism and nepotism in the distribution of resources was the preoccupation of those holding power at the central level

CPN-M wants new govt in a day or two, govt in no hurry Kantipur
NA expresses dissent over Maoist security arrangement NA on Tuesday recommended that the government should provide security to the Maoist leaders itself as it does to the leaders of the other parties. .... there should be no double standard in maintaining security in a single state. ... The United Mission in Nepal (UNMIN) had on Friday informed that 3,428 Maoist weapons were registered at the UN. However, the NA had submitted a report to the UNMIN stating that the Maoists during the insurgency had looted 3,430 weapons from the NA, Armed Police Force and the Nepal Police.
CPN-M will hold talks with NC, UML soon on declaring republic: Prachanda
Prachanda receives two-tier security during his Nepalgunj address the Maoist cadres and state security forces patrolled the major thoroughfares of this southwestern city of the country since early morning ahead of Maoist Chairman Prachanda's address today. ...... Maoist cadres in civilian garb had arrived in Nepalgunj last night itself ...... an extensive security detail has been arranged to maintain surveillance on those who could possibly disrupt the programme ...... a security team of 500 in addition to 500 volunteers had been deployed at the Nepalgunj venue. ..... aside from the Maoist security detail, the local administration has arranged a large number of Nepal Police and Armed Police Force personnel to maintain security in the region. ....... Security in Nepalgunj has been beefed up following the disruption of the Madheshi People's Rights Forum's mass meeting by the Maoists here three days ago. The heightened security has come in consideration of a possible MPRF retaliation during today's address.
Traffic in Lalitpur obstructed over torn 10 Rs note the beating up of a microbus driver by Maoist cadres .... The driver and the conductor further claimed that the cadres took them to their party office where they were tied up and meted out further beatings.
Posing as JTMM cadres group abducts teacher from Kalaiya
Martin calls into question CA polls unless political consensus reached soon the Constituent Assembly elections could not take place if an immediate political consensus could not be reached
Nepal’s constitutional process must be more inclusive: ICG report
MPRF strike continues in eastern Nepal; now Chepangs join the fray
End of monarchy will herald a new Nepal : Gautam
‘Armed’ Maoist MP growls at parliament the Maoist practice of entering parliament with pistols, a Maoist member in the Interim Legislature on Monday said he still has a weapon and challenged other lawmakers to take action against him for possessing it...... Putting his right hand on his waist, Maoist Central Committee member and member of the Interim parliament Lokendra Bista said, "I have my weapon here, with me." ..... "If you have the capacity to take action for my rough remarks, you can arrest me," Bista said. ..... None of the members protested Bista's remarks, and instead Home Minister Sitaula came forward and apologized. .... Maoist leader Krishna Bahadur Mahara defended Bista
Take command of PLA now: Maoists to govt Mahara, claiming that everything was transparent in the spending of the money provided by the government for cantonment management. ...... "At least Rs 180 million has been spent on food alone. Costs rose to more than Rs 360 million for arranging blankets and utensils in 28 camps," said Mahara. "The force was also 33-34,000 in the beginning. Some of them quit the camps before registration was complete." ...... Sitaula also assured lawmakers he would furnish details on the expenditure in Maoists' camp management in the next meeting of parliament.

Customs officials strike paralyses Nepal districts Malaysia Sun, Malaysia