The Interim Constitution of Nepal, 2063 (2007) - Digital Himalaya

THE INTERIM CONSTITUTION OF NEPAL, 2063 (2007)AS AMENDED BY THE FIRST TO SIXTH AMENDMENTSAn important aspect of the Interim Constitution –which gives it its interim nature –is that which provides for the setting up of the Constituent Assembly and thepreparation of the new Constitution. The provisions are not very detailed. Theprovisions for membership of the Constituent Assembly, though superficiallyappearing inclusive, proved on closer examination to guarantee little. After agitationin the Terai, and talks with Madhesi groups, the government agreed to amend theConstitution to provide for some redrawing of the boundaries of the geographicalconstituencies, to ensure greater terai representation. This was done in June 2007.More detail about inclusion in the Constituent Assembly through proportionalrepresentation lists, under the second election in the mixed system, was left to theConstituent Assembly Election Act.There is little detail in the Interim Constitution about how the Constituent Assemblywill operate, other than for some rules about adoption of the final new Constitution,and about achieving consensus, if possible, on the content of the constitution, and animprecise provision about possible reference to the people through a referendum“on any matters of national importance". It seem unlikely that there will now be anAct on the Constituent Assembly before the elections, so details are left to be fleshedout by the Constituent Assembly itself which will adopt its own procedural rules.The Constituent Assembly will act as the Legislature-Parliament as well (though itcan delegate a lot of the legislative work to a committee).The inclusion of provisions about the Human Rights Commission in the Constitutionis new. And there are some new provisions about the army, including aboutdemocratization.The purpose of this volume is not to analyze the Interim Constitution, but just tomake it available in a user friendly form. You can find some further comments on theInterim Constitution on the UNDP website – Support to Constitution Making.This version is based on the Interim Constitution as amended on six occasions -in other words it is up-to-date as of the end of December, 2008.10