To: His Majesty The King

Your Majesty.

I believe I have the best plan to take the country back on tracks. I urge you to unilaterally announce the formation of an interim government with the following composition and at the same time restore all fundamental rights and release all political prisoners.

Prime Minister: Girija Koirala
Deputy Prime Minister: Hridayesh Tripathy
Deputy Prime Minister: Madhav Nepal
Deputy Prime Minister: Pushpa Kamal Dahal
Ministers: Sher Deuba, Pashupati Rana, Prakash Lohani, Badri Mandal, Amik Sherchan, Baburam Bhattarai, Uttar Ram Tamata, Shailaja Acharya.

This will be a take it or leave it proposition for all the names listed and they will have two weeks to decide except for the two Maoist names who will have two months. So if Girija Koirala were to decline to participate, Your Majesty will promote one of the DPM candidates. I would recommend the name of Hridayesh Tripathy. I have worked with him. He is one of the sharpest minds I ever met, and he is fun to be with. Plus, the country never had a Madhesi Prime Minister, a Madhesi DPM yes, thanks to you, but never a PM. Or Your Majesty could even skip the Koirala option altogether, out of respect for the great leader’s age, and go straight for the Tripathy option.

I would not worry about the Maoists refusing to participate and disrupting the referendum even if there were no non-Maoist counterbalance. There is plenty of that within, plus I do not wish to make too much of the recent surfaced differences between its two top leaders. Those two have more in common than otherwise, and I believe together they will make the right choice given a respectful exit like this one.

The cabinet will have a four point agenda:

1. Provide extra personal security to the Maoist leaders.
2. Add a half dozen members to reflect the gender, regional, ethnic and caste diversity of the country.
3. Hold a referendum within six months to get this constitution accepted by the Nepali people.
4. Within six months of the constitution getting accepted, hold elections to the Pratinidhi and the Rajya Sabhas.
   

A lot of work has gone into the constitution. Its simplicity and brevity are testimony to that, not evidence against. I think the document is near complete. But I am open to suggestions from all parties concerned with one condition: I am the only one who may make changes to the document. It is a copyright issue.

If you accept this proposal, I promise to organize an online think tank on the national economy. Between this constitution that will make Nepal the world’s very first democracy and the think tank, the country will see double digit economic growth rates, year in year out, for 30 years. That is the future I see. If you care about the plight of the Nepali people, as I have every reason to believe you do, this should delight you.

There is also the bigger picture to look at. China and India are both going to come under immense pressure to imitate this constitution. That will see the dawn of The Asian Century. Forget the Hindus, become the king of all Asians: there are three times as many of those! I hope you will see this offer for what it is: the opportunity of a lifetime. I believe I have made you an offer you can not refuse, to borrow a line from one of your favorite movies, but I do not mean that in a sinister way.

And say hello to Prince Paras, his wonderful Indian wife, and their children on my behalf, if you will please. My greetings to the rest of your family as well.

With great respect, warm regards, and much affection.

Paramendra Bhagat

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.

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