Proposed Constitution

Preamble

1. Nepal is a federal state, a total, transparent democracy, with the sovereignty resting firmly with the Nepali people.
2. An interim government will hold a referendum to get this constitution accepted by the people and, upon acceptance, organize elections to the national parliament which takes over upon convening. That new national government will organize the state elections, and the state governments will hold local elections to fully activate this constitution.
   

Article 1: The Legislative Branch

1. There is to be a lower house, the Pratinidhi Sabha, with 180 members, 60 per state, and a upper house, the Rajya Sabha, with 60 members, 20 per state, all of whom are to be directly elected through constituencies demarcated such that the largest has a population not more than 5% of the smallest, geographically in close approximation to a circle or a square, and protected from partisan gerrymandering by an autonomous Election Commission. The constituencies need not respect district boundaries. Three constituencies for the Pratinidhi Sabha will make one for the Rajya Sabha. The entire Sabha is dissolved en masse when its term nears expiration.
2. All matters of national importance are to be decided by the national parliament through a majority vote, unless otherwise stated. Parliamentary procedures are to be laid out or revised with a 60% vote margin.
3. The legislatures are to elect their Speakers and Deputy Speakers. The legislatures shall assemble at least once every four months, and as often as necessary. No parliamentarian may be arrested while the parliament might be in session except for felony charges. Their speech in parliament is protected from any and all oversight, legal and otherwise.
4. A simple majority of the parliament will pass the budget. All budget proposals must originate in the Pratinidhi Sabha. All bills must be posted online in three languages - Nepali, Hindi and English - for at least one week before they may be voted upon.
5. All regional and international treaties that Nepal might enter into will have to pass a 60% majority in the parliament.
6. Political parties may not engage in fund-raising activities. Instead each national party, described as those that garnered at least 5% of the votes in the previous nationwide elections, will get an annual sum that will be directly proportional to the number of votes it earned. That money is to be used for party-building and electioneering activities. Details of expenses are to be posted online in the three languages to the last paisa on at least an annual basis.
7. Every person on the state's payroll - elected officials, bureaucrats, justices, police, army personnel - is to submit a Family Property Statement, to be posted online and archived and updated annually. Upon exiting the public sector, they may discontinue the practice, but the archives will remain, and the updates will resume should the individuals re-enter public service.
8. Details of all expenses incurred by the state, to the last paisa, are to be posted online in the three languages. All contracts offered by the state to the private sector are to be bid for in a similar transparent manner from beginning to the end. All job applications and promotions in the public sector are to be similarly handled in a transparent manner.
9. All formal political deliberations at all levels of government are to be posted online in as real time as possible in the language that was used at the venue. Efforts are to be made to make the same available in Nepali, Hindi and English. All votes are to be similarly made public.
10. Every elected official at all levels of government is to get a decent monthly salary.
11. Anyone above the age of 16 is a legible voter. Members of the Pratinidhi Sabha will have to be at least 23 years of age, and that of the Rajya Sabha at least 25 years of age. The terms of members of the two bodies shall last four and six years respectively. All elected officials are to have been citizens.
12. Acts of impeachment require a vote of 65%. This constitution can be amended by the same vote margin.
13. In the case of a tie in the Pratinidhi or the Rajya Sabha, the Prime Minister's designate gets to break it.
14. The parliamentarians may not increase their salaries in a way that might affect the members of the existing class. The same applies to the salaries of members of the cabinet.
    

Article 2: The Executive Branch

1. The legislative party leader of the majority party in the Pratinidhi Sabha becomes Prime Minister. The Prime Minister may elect members to the Cabinet that might or might not be members of the parliament.
2. When a majority might be lacking, the largest pre-poll alliance, or the largest single party, whichever might be larger, gets invited to form the government, and is given 30 days to prove majority.
3. The Prime Minister makes nominations to the Supreme Court and other constitutional bodies like the Election Commission (EC) and the Commission to Control Corruption (CCC) to be confirmed by a 60% vote in the parliament. The commissioners serve 6-year terms.
4. The army, to be called the Nepal Army, is not to be larger than 0.1% of the national population and is to be downsized accordingly within 5 years of this constitution getting promulgated. The Prime Minister is the Commander-In-Chief of the army.
5. The central bank is to be autonomous, and the governor, to serve a six-year term, is to be appointed by the Prime Minister.
6. All appointments made by the Prime Minster, except for his or her personal staff, will need a majority vote in the parliament for confirmation.
   

Article 3: The Judiciary Branch

1. The judiciary will reflect the composition of the government, from village/town to district, to state to the national level. Towns and cities with more than 30,000 people will be served with more than one court, the number to be decided through a formula by the state government. There will be a layer between the district and the state levels, the Appeals Court, 10 per state. The system is to be peopled like the civil service, on merit.
2. The Prime Minister makes nominations to the national Supreme Court. The Chief Minister makes nominations to the State Supreme Court. Both are subject to their respective parliaments for 60% of the vote. Justices to the Supreme Court are to serve to the age of 75 or upto their voluntary retirement.
3. The state and national Supreme Courts interpret the constitutionality of laws passed by the parliaments when thus challenged, but such interpretations may be overturned by the parliaments through a 65% vote.
4. The parliament, federal or state, may not diminish the salary of a sitting judge.
   

Article 4: The States

1. The current "zones" and "development regions" are to be abolished, but the "districts" are to be retained. The country is to be divided into three states, roughly of equal population, Eastern, Central, and Western, to be called Purbanchal, Madhyamanchal, and Paschimanchal, that are to include all three geographical regions, Terai, Pahad and Himal. Each state is to have a Pratinidhi Sabha, 120 members, and a Rajya Sabha, 40 members.
2. The districts will have their own governments, forming a third layer, named Zillapalika. It is for each state to design the formation and functioning of its component district and town/city governments. The village units are to be called Grampalika, the town units are to be called Nagarpalika, and the city units Mahanagarpalika, and will form the fourth layer of government. District, town/city and village elected officials are to be at least 21 years of age.
3. The federal government will directly transfer 10% of its annual budget to the 25 poorest districts measured by per capita income. This does not prevent further federal expenditures on those districts.
4. The income tax structure is to be as follows: 50% federal, 30% state, 10% district, and 10% village/town/city. The income tax is to be collected by the federal government, and funds transferred by the same to the other levels of government as per this formula.
5. The education system shall follow a tri-lingual policy up to Class 10, beyond which it is for each individual institution to decide on their own as to the language of instruction. The first language is to be the student's first language, the second language is to be Nepali. For those for whom Nepali might be their first language, the student may choose any language spoken in Nepal. The third language is to be English, the contemporary language of science and commerce. This policy applies to schools in both the private and the public sectors. The language of instruction for all other subjects to Class 10 will be a decision to be made by the individual school boards for the public schools and by the owners of the private schools.
   

Article 5: The Monarchy

1. The monarch is the guardian of the constitution and the one who formally invites formations of governments from the parliaments and formally inducts governments.
2. The first born, son or daughter, is heir to the throne.
3. The monarch's immediate family - defined as parent(s), wife, siblings and their children, children, and grandchildren, and others in direct lineage, and above the law - is to get annual allowances from the state at the 1991 levels. The amount may not be reduced by the parliament. The monarch may request the parliament increases to the allowance through the Prime Minister at any time. Such allowances are not to be taxed, although businesses owned by members of the said family will be subject to taxation and the law.
4. The monarch may decide to retire at an age of his or her choosing, or not.
5. It is a state goal to open up enough holdings of the royal family with consent from the monarch to tourists so as to offset the state expenditure on the monarchy through revenue from tourism.
6. The monarch will appoint a Prince/Princess for each state, to be called Prince/Princess of Purbanchal/Madhyamanchal/Paschimanchal from among the members of the royal family. The monarch may also choose to appoint members that might have married into the family. Such appointments may be rescinded by the monarch at any time. The title comes with extra allowances from the state and a state-funded residence in the state capital. The spouse of the appointed royal family member gets the accompanying title.
7. Members of the royal family may marry individuals of their choice, not necessarily from certain families, or from within the country.
8. The monarch will give the annual State Of The Kingdom address, the speech to be crafted by the Prime Minister summarizing the achievements in the public and the private sectors over the past year and outlining a vision for the future years.
9. The monarchy may be abolished with a 90% vote in the national parliament: this provision may not be amended.
   

Article 6: The Individual

1. The individual is the most important component of the state and is to be protected and celebrated. Every person has a birth right to freedom of speech, freedom of peaceful assembly, freedom of religion, a right to a speedy, public trial, and a right to privacy, a protection from unreasonable searches and seizures. No person may be tried and punished for the same crime twice. No person will be compelled to testify against themselves. No person will be deprived of life, liberty or propety without due process of law. Private property may not be taken for public use without due compensation. Excessive bail shall not be required, nor excessive fines imposed, nor cruel and unusual punishments inflicted. The privilege of the Writ of Habeas Corpus shall not be suspended. No ex post facto law shall be passed. No warrants are to be issued, except upon probable cause, and should specifically describe the place to be searched, and the persons or things to be seized. A person charged with a crime is to have compulsory process for obtaining witnesses in his or her favor, and is to have the Assistance of Counsel for his or her defence.
2. Every person born in Nepal is a citizen of Nepal. But this does not prevent people not born in Nepal from seeking Nepali citizenship.
3. Every person is equal under the law. Any law that might conflict with that fundamental premise will become null and void as soon as this constitution takes effect.
4. No person shall be taxed more than 40% of their income by all levels of government put together. Those in the bottom 40% income brackets are not to pay any direct taxes.
5. No business may be taxed more than 25% of its income, and businesses in the bottom 25% income brackets will not pay any taxes. All business expenses are tax write-offs.
6. The sales tax may not exceed 10%.
7. Elections at all levels are to be organized on Saturdays.
8. No citizen of age may be barred from voting for whatever reason.
9. It is a stated goal of the state to make possible lifelong education for every person in the country through creative partnerships between the private and public sectors. The state shall also attempt to provide universal access to secondary education and primary health care free of cost to all.
10. The state shall attempt to provide universal access to micro-credit to all in the bottom 40% income brackets.
11. All persons that might enter into agreements, either in the private or the public sector, to access credit will have the option to declare bankruptcy as a last resort. Money owed by an individual, as opposed to by a business or a corporation, may not be passed on to the next generation. Indentured servitude is an illegal form of collecting money owed by an individual or family. Money owed may not be paid for through manual labor. Any person, group or organization, lending money on interest, the total of which is larger than Rs 20,000, to be indexed to inflation, is to register as a small business owner, and will be subject to taxation and regulation.
12. All educational institutions, public and private, must have at least 10% of its students on need-based full scholarships. Institutions may also opt to have 5% on such full scholarships, and 10% on need-based half scholarships, or 5% on full, 6% on half, and 6% on one-third scholarships. But at no time should the proportion of full scholarship dip below 5%.
13. Employees of the state in the education and health sectors will be paid salaries that are at least 10% larger than to those with similar qualifications serving in other fields.
14. An accurate, scientific census is to be conducted every 10 years, and scientific projections are to be made for the intervening years.
    

Article 7: Capitals

1. Within 10 years of this constitution getting promulgated, the national capital is to be shifted from Kathmandu to the Chitwan valley which will also serve as the capital of Madhyamanchal. Udaypur valley will serve as the capital of Purbanchal, and the Surkhet valley will serve as the capital for Paschimanchal.

http://demrepubnepal.blogspot.com

Email From Arzu Rana Deuba

From:	"arz8u"
To:	"Paramendra Kumar Bhagat"
Subject:	Re: Your email about your husband is being widely publicized
Date:	Tue, 3 May 2005 16:06:14 -0700

Dear Paramendra,

Thanks for hosting my appeal on your site. Am sending you an attachment you might
(find) interesting.

Arzu



The Royal Take Over, Arrest of Mr. Deuba and the Facts about Melamchi

The government headed by King Gyanendra is not only embarking on unconstitutional path
through its February 1st takeover, it is showing utter disrespect for democracy and human
rights in Nepal. The government is systematically working to destroy independent civil
societies, political parties and human right groups by letting loose state mechanism through
intimidation, excessive use of force, torture, arrest, censorship, control on freedom of
movement and disruption of communications. As if it was not enough, it has created a
so-called royal commission on control of corruption, totally disregarding the constitution
provision. Breaking all the constitutional norms, the commission is provided with power of
investigation, policing as well as power of special court. Empowering any one body with all
these powers is against the laws of jurisprudence. Despite the fact that there exists a
constitutional body called Commission Investigation Abuse of Authority (CIAA) created by
parliament to look after cases of corruption. Immediately after creation of royal commission,
it has started targeting political leaders by initiating cases against them for corruption. The
cases and charges against them are totally flimsy and clearly meant to discredit political
parties and its leaders. The King is afraid of growing political opposition against his rule and
therefore, likes to distract and confuse people by charging political leaders and its activists in
corruption cases.

The case cases against former Prime Minister Mr. Sher Bahadur Deuba and former Minister
Prakash Man Singh and way they were arrested clearly shows ill intention of the commission.
The Mr. Deuba was arrested in the middle of the night in abduction like fashion. The
telephone and electricity lines were cutoff and all the roads were blocked to create terror. It
shows it has no other objective but to intimidate those who choose to stand against the
unconstitutional royal government. The royal commission arrested them regarding
Melamchi drinking water project. The government propaganda machinery has been
blatantly trying to distort the facts. Asian Development Bank sources have made it very clear
that awarding of the contract of the access road to the project is made according to the
process followed by the bank and with concurrence from the bank.  Although, many private
media has come up with the real story, we find it necessary to present facts about
Melamchi project to dispel any confusion to our friends, concerned citizens.

The Melamchi drinking water project is larger and complex and is supported by a number of
donors. It was approved in 2000 and was originally scheduled to be completed by 2006.
However, implementation progress is well behind the original schedule, so Asian Development
bank (ADB) and other donors have repeatedly expressed concerns to the government about
the prolonged delays. The contract for the access roads is on the project's critical path, since
it is needed to provide access to the tunnel, and most of the other major works cannot
commence until the access roads are substantially complete. The contract was re-tendered
after the original contract was terminated in May 2004 due to gross under-performance of
the contractor (85% of the contract period had elapsed, but only 11 percent physical progress
achieved). ADB concurred with the recommendation of the Melamchi project office to
terminate the contract and re-tendered. In view of the long delays already incurred, ADB has
repeatedly stressed the need to urgently complete the procurement process for the new
contract and restart the work as early as possible. In particular, it was considered essential
to take maximum advantage in the 2004/005 dry seasons to complete the contract
according to the current schedule.

Bids for the new contract were received in October 2004 and approval for award of the
contract was undertaken according to ADB procedures. First the project office evaluated the
bids in detail and recommendations were forwarded to ADB's procurement committee for
further review and approval. ADB formally approved the recommendation of the Melamchi
project office to award the contract to the lowest responsive bidder on 23 December 2004 at
a price slightly below the cost estimate.

Formal notice to proceed was issued to the successful contractor in early January 2005.
However, it was subsequently brought to ADB's attention that signing of the contract was
still being delayed. In view of the critical implications of further prolonged delays in
implementing work under contract, ADB again expressed serious concerns to the government
about the future of the project.  Considering all these facts and satisfied that all the due
process and procedures followed, the contract was approved by the government and finally
awarded in late January 2005.

Throughout implementation of the project, ADB, as part of its routine review process has
monitored progress of the work. The semiannual joint review meetings between project staff
and the 6 donor agencies implementing the Melamchi project are a major element of the
monitoring process. The issues and constrains identified for action are expeditiously bought to
the attention of all relevant government officials including, as needed, the highest authority of
the government including prime minister by ADB.

These are the facts about Melamchi's contracting process. However, the government media
is spreading disinformation by saying that the Deuba government canceled the project and
that the new contract was given based on negotiations. The truth of the matter is that
Thapa's government in May 2004 canceled the previous contract, while the Deuba
government was formed only 2 June 2004. The new contract was awarded as per ADB
regulations through a global tender.

The ADB needs to not only 'leak' these facts but also to organize a press conference to clear
this before the global and Nepalese community. Not only to clear the names of the former PM
and minister but also for the sake of Nepal's democracy and to expose the plots against it.

Please send e-mails to hkuroda@adb.org and shrahman@adb.org. The former Mr. Haruhiko
Kuroda is President of ADB and the latter sultan Hafeez Rahman is the representative in
Nepal.

In The News

• Nepal: Cynicism Amid Competing Visions Scoop.co.nz (press release), New Zealand....cynicism festering in Nepal’s political discourse ..... Was Indian diplomatic pressure in the aftermath of the king’s meeting with Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh in Jakarta so untenable that he had no choice? ..... the purported “failure of the China card” ...... vast right-wing conspiracy to hoodwink the international community and impose some form of “guided democracy” ..... The idea that the monarch’s move might be a genuine effort at bolstering national reconciliation never seems to have gotten off the ground...... after suffering a series of battlefield blows, the Maoists have struck against the royal regime ..... Prachanda, who has for the first time publicly acknowledged deep rifts with the party’s chief ideologue, Dr. Babu Ram Bhattarai, has shed little of his ideological defiance...... Army generals are justifiably peeved at attempts to equate their derelictions with the depredations of those declaring war on the state ..... An impatient idealism against the injustices of the status quo has propelled the Maoist insurgency...... How longer can they continue using indiscriminate violence, often against the people they claim to be fighting for, without undermining their cause? ...... Undaunted by the crescendo of criticism his action has sparked, the king remains committed to playing an assertive role not only to extricate Nepal from its worst crisis but also as a pivot of modernization well into the future....... Gyanendra has said Nepal’s peace and stability depended on much more than constitutional monarchy and multiparty democracy ..... It is no secret that political parties, through their abysmal performance over 12 years, have failed the country. Perpetual denunciation cannot provide the drawing board for a blueprint for national rejuvenation...... the anti-corruption campaign may be metamorphosing into a full-blown political witch-hunt ....... creating an inclusive state structure and ensuring distributive justice .....