Democracy For Nepal

Sunday, August 20, 2006

April Convention Market Research 1

Audio

Students Of Nepali Origin 1
Students Of Nepali Origin 2
Students Of Nepali Origin 3
Students Of Nepali Origin 4
Students Of Nepali Origin 5

Interim Parliament: 101 Members Total

Interim Parliament

Interim Bureaucracy
My Work In The Ideas Department Is Complete
Who Will Tie The Bell Round The Cat's Neck
The Next Revolution Will Be At The Ballot Box
Political Synthesis Nepali Style
Masterful Political Work: Compromise Takes Guts
Federal Republic Guaranteed
Arms Management: Break It Down Into Smaller Pieces
Madhesi Caucus In Interim Parliament Needed
UML Thoughts On Interim Constitution
Critiquing The Nepali Congress Proposed Constitution
Critiquing The Maoist Proposed Constitution
Interim Monarchy, Interim Army, Interim Parliament
Interim Army: You Can Walk And Chew Gum At The Same Time
ANA Convention: My Hamro Nepal Speech
Interim Constitution Draft
Proposed Constitution

Eight political parties engineered the April Revolution. No party will be barred from running for elections for the constituent assembly and during elections thereafter, but only eight parties have to get representation in the interim parliament. The Maoists are right on that count.

But they are wrong that there should be 101 seats for the Maoists, and 101 for the seven parties, and 101 for civil society.

I was originally for including the civil society in the interim parliament. But I am no longer sure about that. The civil society perhaps can best contribute from outside.

So the question is how big the interim parliament will be, and how will the seats get divided among the eight parties.

The smaller the better.

How about 101 seats total? But that does not mean the Maoists get 50 of those seats. As to how many seats each of the parties get they will have to together decide.

But 34 of the seats will have to go to women. At least half of those 34 have to go to the Dalit, Madhesi, Janajati women. In all 50 of the 101 seats have to go to the DaMaJaMa.

If I were to carve out seats for the eight parties, it would be as follows.

Nepali Congress 30 (15 reserved seats)
UML 25 (12 reserved seats)
Maoist 24 (12 reserved seats)
Congress (D) 15 (7 reserved seats)
Jana Morcha 3
Sadbhavana (A) 2
NMKP 1
Left Front 1

None of these 101 have to be members of the current House. Each party prepares a fresh list that might or might not include members of the current House. Again, it might.

Then form a 10 member cabinet.

Let the parliament work out the modalities for the constituent assembly elections, and go for it. The sooner the better.

Interim Monarchy

I am for abolishing the monarchy now. But if all eight parties can not agree on this, it can not happen. Nothing wrong with the idea of letting the monarchy stick around for a few more months. The Maoists should not stick too hard on the point of abolishing the monarchy now.

I like the UML proposal of holding a referendum on the issue. Let the people decide.

Modalities For The Constituent Assembly

These 101 MPs will work that out. That will be the number one job for the interim parliament. We do not have to spell it all out right away when we promulgate the interim constitution.

It is very important that the modalities are seen as fair by all eight parties, and by the DaMaJaMa crowd.

Commander In Chief Of Two Armies

That is what the Interim Prime Minister will be. What that means is you are boss. You can fire absolutely anyone in either army. You can order both armies to lay down their weapons. You can order both armies to take classes on human rights and democracy and rule of law.

In The News

Govt withdraws fuel price hike NepalNews Earlier in the afternoon, Minister for Industry, Commerce and Supplies, Hridayesh Tripathi, said at the House of Representatives that the government was ready to reconsider the hike in the petroleum products. ...... Price of petrol went up by 25.1 percent per litre, dieIsel by 10.95 percent per litre, kerosene by 23.21 percent, air turbine fuel by 38.87 and cooking gas by 11.31 percent per cylinder. ..... The price hike sparked furious protests throughout the country, prompting even the ruling parties to speak against the government decision.
No place for parliament in interim constitution: Aryal the parliament and the present constitution would automatically be dismissed after promulgating the interim constitution. ...... Aryal also accused the parliamentarians of wasting time by getting engaged in minor issues and not showing concern on the elections to a constituent assembly. ....... announcement of interim constitution has been delayed due to lack of a fixed stance of Prime Minister Girija Prasad Koirala. ........ the country has not moved ahead following the spirit of Janaandolan II due to the prime minister's unreliable statements on the monarchy and Maoists. ........ "The interim constitution is ready. It is stuck because of the dispute over monarchy"
SPA delaying peace process: Mahara ....... Mahara has claimed that the seven-party alliance's intention to convert the present parliament into an interim legislative was delaying the peace process. ....... Koirala want to give space for king's representatives in the parliament but the Maoists want to establish a republican House........ Mahara also said hopes for resolving the problem through talks were running thin........ "Management of arms is not a big problem. Separating arms from our combatants will help the king consolidate his powers." ...... accused the seven-party alliance of making compromise with the king to give him a ceremonial status

Visitors

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19 August