Long Live
Marxism-Leninism-Maoism and Prachanda Path!
Occasional Bulletin of Communist Party of
Nepal (Maoist)
|
No.
16
August, 2006 |
|
News and Views |
Comrade Prachanda, chairman of the Communist
Patty of Nepal and the Prime Minister Girija Prasad Koirala, the Government of
Nepal write the following letter to the UN separately. Both letters were
identical in that both are agreed on a five-point agreement for UN assistance.
August 9, 2006
Excellency,
I have the honor to refer to my letter dated July 24, 2006 requesting the cooperation of the United Nations in the ongoing peace process in Nepal. In this context, I am happy to acquaint you that United Nations team, which left Kathmandu a week ago, held extensive yet fruitful consultations with all concerned stakeholders of peace process here in Nepal. The UN team, as I understand, is likely to submit its report to you on Nepal.
In the mean time, Excellency, I wish to inform you that further to the Eight-Point Understanding between the Seven Party Alliance (SPA) and the Communist Party of Nepal (Maoist) (CPN-M) of June 2006 and the commitment expressed by the government of Nepal (GON) to the Agreement, the GON and the CPN-M hereby request the United Nations to provide its assistance as follows with a view to creating a free and fair atmosphere for the election of a constituent assembly and entire the peace process:
- Continue its human rights monitoring through the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights in Nepal (OHCHR, Nepal)
- Assist the monitoring of the Code of Conduct during the Ceasefire.
- On the basis of the agreement to seek UN assistance in the "the management of arms and armed personnel of both the sides", deploy qualified civilian personnel to monitor and verify the confinement of CPN-M combatants and their weapons within designated cantonment areas. Later the modalities for all arrangements, including of arms and munitions, will be worked out among the parties and the UN.
- Monitor the Nepal Army to ensure that it remains in its barracks and its weapons are not used for or against any side. The modalities will be worked out among the parties and the UN.
5. Provide election observation for the election of the Constituent Assembly in consultation with the parties.
Please accept, Excellency, the assurances of my highest consideration.
(Prachanda)
Chairman,
Central Committee
CPN (Maoist)
Excellency Kofi A. Annan
Secretary General,
United Nations, NY
United States of America
PARTY STRONGLY CRITICIZED THE
GOVERNMENT'S LETTER
Chairman Comrade Prachanda has strongly opposed the government's letter, which was send to United Nations secretly on July 2 to register strong protest and disagreement over certain crucial points of the letter.
Com. Prachanda, in a letter to the General-Secretary of the United Nations Kofi Annan on July 24 has said the idea of decommissioning of the arms of the Maoists alone was unthinkable and unacceptable. Objecting to the letter sent by the government of Nepal early this month inviting the world body to monitor Maoist arms, Chairman Prachanda said, "This is to draw your attention to the letter sent to you by the Government of Nepal on July 2006 and to register our strong protest and disagreement over certain crucial points of the letter."
Com. Prachanda has blamed the government of writing UN unilaterally and secretively without any consultation with CPN-M "in our violation of the spirit of ongoing negotiation between the government and Maoists." He said the party knew about the letter only through the media. Objecting to content of the complete violation of the 12-point Understanding of 22 November 2005 and 8-point Agreement of 16 June 2006 reached between the two sides."
The full text of the letter has been
included herewith:
"H.E Mr. Kofi Annan
Secretary-General of the United Nations
New York.
Dear Mr. Secretary-General,
This is to draw your attention to the letter sent to you by the Government of Nepal on 2 July 2006 and to register our strong protest and disagreement over certain crucial points of the letter.
Firstly, the letter was written and unilaterally and secretively without any consultation with us in utter violation of the spirit of ongoing negotiation between the Government of Nepal and the CPN (Maoist). We came to Know about the letter through the media after three weeks and hence this delay to register our disagreement over it.
Secondly, and more importantly, the content of the letter, particularly as stated in point is nos. 3 and 4, is in complete violation of the 12-points Understanding of 22 November 2005 and 8-points Agreement of 16 June 2006 reached between the tow sides. For your kind recollection, clause-3 pf the 8-points Agreement clearly states: "To request the United Nations to assist in the management of the armies and arms of both sides (emphasis added) and monitor it free and fair election to the constituent assembly". Against this, the said letter self-professedly and provocatively talks of "Assist in the monitoring of the combatants of the Maoists and decommissioning of their arms" and "Monitor to assure that the Nepal Army is inside barracks" etc.
Such arbitrary and unilateral application of two different yardsticks to the armies is highly objectionable and totally unacceptable to us. Particularly any talk of "decommissioning of arms of only the PLA before the election to the constituent assembly is just unthinkable. As everybody knows, the so-called Nepal Army is still loyal to the monarchy and its democratic restructuring and keeping under credible international monitoring is more imperative and important free and fair election to the constituent assembly.
We would like to reiterate our appreciation to the United Nations and to you personally for the positive role played so far in favour of democracy, peace and progress in Nepal and expect the same in future. We shall be happy to co-operate in any manner with the UN team planning to visit Nepal soon.
Please accept, Excellency, the assurances of our highest consideration.
Prachanda
Chairman
Communist Party of Nepal (Maoist)
24 July 2006."
ELEVEN
COMRADES RELEASED FORM INDIAN JAIL
The eleven leaders and cadres of CPN (Maoist), who were detained in Patana Jail of India for more than two years released this week. The brutal Indian expansionist ruling class viciously tortured and inhuman behaved them against law and order in the Jail.
The Newa Republic Front gave them a warm reception on August 7 in Dattatrya, Bhaktapur on the grand mass meeting of putting on the Nepalese cap on their head.
The released leaders and cadres are Com. Kul Bahadur K.C., Com. Lokendra Bista, Com. Kumar Dahal, Com. Anil Sharma, Com. Hit Bahadur Tamang, Com. Dilip Maharjan, Com. Chitra Bahadur Shrestha, Com. Tara Gharti, Com. Suman Tamang.
Even though eleven comrades released, there are still more than 130 leaders and cadres including senior Comrade Kiran (Mohan Baidha) and Comrade Gaurav (Chandra Prakash Gajurel) in different Indian Jail.
|
Press Statement |
1. This is a press statement of the
Communist Party of Nepal (Maoist), released by Chairman Comrade Prachanda, on
ceasefire extension issued.
Communist Party of Nepal (Maoist)
Central Committee
The period of the three-month-long ceasefire declared by our party in order to build new Nepal through the constituent assembly –the sentiment and thrust expressed by the historic people's movement for peace and republicanism- is going to be completed today. In this context, it is important to remember that our party unilaterally declared a three-month's ceasefire last year to start initiatives to build a new political polarization against autocratic monarchy, and the 12-point understanding was made with the seven political parties during the same period. The importance of the 12-point understanding has been proved by history. The next important achievement of the ceasefire period is the 8-point agreement made at Baluwatar, which was based on people's desire for peace and transformation. Our party firmly believes that the country move towards peace and transformation only by implementing the 8-point agreement strongly and honestly. Clarifying our responsibility and commitment to the same necessity of the country and the people, our party declares a ceasefire for the next three months through this statement.
We feel it is our duty to clarify here that the government of the seven parties and the so-called parliament, instead of moving forward and standing firmly in favour of the 8-point agreement, are trying to step back on various pretexts. In this context, it has been an issue of a more serious concern that the pressure and signals of the foreign power centres are active behind their attitude. The activities of the seven parties' government and the nature of the strange decisions and declarations of the "parliament" clearly show that they (the government of the seven parties and the parliament) are being deviated from the sprit, thrust and sentiment of the people's movement.
Amidst this situation, our party is firmly moving forward to ensure implementation of the 8-point agreement for the success of the peace talks. For this purpose, serious interactions are being held with various sides. However, it is totally shocking that the government of the seven parties is building relationships with the very oppressors of the people's movement and spreading illusion against the major ally of the movement- Communist Party of Nepal (Maoist). If the government and the so-called parliament understand our tireless efforts for the implementation of 8-point agreement and for the success of the peace talks as our weakness, and dreams of gaining long life, it is better to awake from it. We strongly request the government to perform its readiness to promote the peace talks according to the thrust of the 8-point agreement and immediate stop writing wrong letters to the foreigners and listening to the wrong advices, which have hurt the feeling and aspiration of the people. Otherwise, we will be obliged to declare a powerful program of peaceful people's movement even during the period of ceasefire.
28 July 2006
Prachanda
Chairman
CPN (Maoist)
2. Two strong parties of South Asia, Communist party of Nepal (Maoist)
and Communist Party of India (Maoist) have issued joint press statement on the
recent debates between two parties on August 8, 2006. They have also released
statement condemning the brutal attack no Lebanon. The full text of both
statements is as follow:-
ON RECENT DEBATES
The Communist Party of Nepal (Maoist) and the Communist Party of India (Maoist) jointly re-assert their firm commitment to proletarian internationalism, mutual fraternal relations, on the basis of MLM. All tactical questions are being adopted in the respective countries are the sole concern of the parties operating there. Both parties will seek to learn from the positive experiences of the other party as also the experiences of the Maoists who comprise the ICM.
While doing so we shall continue debates on ideological, political and strategic issues on which we differ in the true democratic traditions of the international communist movement. These debates and discussions will take place bilaterally and occasionally, publicly. Such differences are inevitable as struggles in the sphere of ideas are inevitable in a class society, which, as Engel's said, is a reflection of the class struggle in society.
Lately a section of the media has tried to blow out of proportion differences that have been expressed by the two parties publicly. It is in the interests of the reactionaries that Maoists divide and split continuously. It is then no wonder that a section of the media has sought to exaggerate the differences in India and Nepal.
The two parties once again re-assert their firm unity in the spirit of proletarian internationalism while continuing healthy debates and discussions on issues on which we differ.
ON LEBANON
The CPN (Maoist) and CPI (Maoist) jointly condemn the brutal attack of the America-backed Israeli regime against the people of Lebanon. In the name Of attacking the guerrilla resistances, they have resorted to mass massacre, killing about 1,000 and displacing 25% of the population of Lebanon. The Zionist genocide regime, acting as the front paw of the US imperialists, is becoming more and fiercer throughout the world, and this is yet another adventure against an independent country.
Not satisfied with being bogged down in Iraq and Afghanistan, the US stooges are facing stiff resistance in Lebanon. The attack on Lebanon is fraught with great dangers as the forces fighting there have the strong backing of Syria and Iran. If the war escalates, it can engulf the entire West Asia.
Even in South Asia, the US imperialists are more and more openly intervening in the countries of the region. Particularly in Nepal and India, they have been directly intervening in the suppression of the Maoist movements. As part of their direct intervention, the US officers have themselves been training the RNA and even entering every sphere of society to subvert the ongoing anti-monarchical movement. In India, the US diplomats have been openly visiting Chhatisgargh and the military-run jungle warfare camp as part of their plans to suppress the Maoists.
We, the Maoist parties of Nepal and India strongly condemn the blatant aggression of Lebanon and call for the immediate withdrawal of all Israeli troops and an end to the bombing of civilian targets by the Zionists. The two parties also call for the immediate end of the interference by the US in the internal affairs of Nepal and India and the other countries of South Asia.
Azad Satya
Spokesperson CPI (Maoist) CCM CPN (Maoist)
August 8 2006
3. The Committee of the
Revolutionary Internationalist Movement, the embryonic centre of the world’s
Marxist-Leninist-Maoist parties and organizations, issued the following
statement on current affairs. The full text of the statement is as follow:
Committee of the Revolutionary Internationalist Movement
Take up the challenge to build a people’s revolutionary alternative
The US green light to Israel’s mass murder in Palestine and Lebanon
Thousands of sophisticated
American-made precision bombs deliberately pound Lebanese towns and villages,
mosques and churches, airports and ports, milk factories, grain silos, power
stations and telecommunications infrastructure. Israeli leaflets scream at the
Lebanese people to leave behind their homes before Israeli missiles strike, and
those who flee are themselves bombed from the air in their vehicles, many with
white flags flying, while bridges and roads are destroyed in order to leave
people stranded and to prevent humanitarian aid from reaching them. As of this writing, about 1000 Lebanese have been killed by
US bombs and other munitions in the hands of Israeli hit men (wearing army
uniforms for the most part) and more than a quarter of the population
displaced, and the count is rising daily.
Israel has played the role of
attack dog for imperialist interests for over half a century, since its
creation as a religious-based Zionist state on Palestinian land. How long would
Israel last without the billions of dollars of support it receives from the
United States? Today its role of gendarme for the region is being suddenly
expanded for the geo-strategic aims of these world-scale terrorists
headquartered in Washington who have spilled rivers of the people’s blood
during wars and crimes of aggression committed all over the globe. As appalling
and contemptible as these massacres carried out against the Lebanese population
today are, they may well be a prelude to
a much broader war to redraw the political, economic and social map of
the Middle East to suit U.S. imperialist interests -- part of a global agenda.
It is not just about controlling resources and oil, it’s about developing more
complete US domination of a strategic region of the world and trying to break
the will and crush the national aspirations and resistance of a population
whose hatred for US imperialism in particular and for its armed Zionist thugs
in Israel has few bounds. It also has the aim of reining in (or “changing”)
regimes like Syria and Iran that are not fully under its command.
Israel’s invasion and air
bombardments of Lebanese towns that began in 1982 killed nearly 20,000 people
and, as Sharon’s Zionist army stood guard, hundreds of Palestinian were
slaughtered by Phalanges at the refugee camps of Sabra and Shatila in Lebanon.
Hezbollah was formed in this period as a Shiite movement among Lebanese to
fight against Israel’s occupation of Southern Lebanon, but it also acted as a
force of control against the Palestinian resistance there. With its
contradictory nature, and by avoiding solving the
essential problem of the Israeli occupation of Palestine, it contributed to
maintaining a fragile Zionist-imperialist stability in that area.
The Israeli state machine of
terror instead turned its attacks towards the West Bank and Gaza, murdering Palestinian militants and
civilians, building “apartheid” walls to physically separate the two
populations and their land, expanding its settlements into the territory carved
out for Palestine, destroying its agricultural livelihoods, infrastructure and
thousands of homes, and through its repressive system of controls maintaining
those who aren’t in its prisons in a different form of captivity. With the
election of Hamas in early 2006 – a reflection of the bankruptcy of previous
efforts to reach an imperialist-sponsored accommodation with Israel – the US
master together with Israel made the political – and military -- decision to
put the talk of international “peace” aside and to use the occasion to break
the back of the Palestinian government and to try to rout once and for all the
Palestinian armed resistance to Israel’s daily terror regimen. The cascade of
bombs on Lebanon to eliminate Hezbollah from the southern part of that country
is a further step in this “militarised roadmap”. The purpose is not to achieve
peace, but to pursue war and to reinforce through the act of mass carnage and
destruction the US rulers’ and Israel’s self-designated right to kill anyone
they want in the region in the name of whatever demagogy serves them at the
time. Sometimes this talk invokes peace, at others it is to end “terrorism”, or
to bring about the (implicitly bloody) birth pangs of democracy in the Middle
East, as Bush’s current travelling saleswoman, Rice, put it. At the same time,
even the most pro-Bush members of the world press are preparing public opinion
for a situation of civil war in US-occupied Iraq, where neo-colonial democracy
US-style is a murderous joke. And all the while, the threats of punishing Syria
and Iran escalate.
People all over the world
seethe at the unjustness of this latest war of terror and devastation
orchestrated between Washington and Tel Aviv, and at the pathetic hand-wringing
talks among the European imperialist powers that are complicit in giving this
“green light” to mass murder. After Iraq, major actors in Lebanon like the
former coloniser France see their interests better served by joining the US war
coalition this time around, and the pitifully subservient UN cannot even pass a
Security Council resolution condemning Israel for an attack killing UN
personnel in its own unarmed posts in Lebanon because of US veto power and
overall domination of that institution.
It is way past time to put aside
illusions about international forums and such institutions intervening to bring
the world is leading marauders to reason, as demonstrators expressed eloquently
in turning their wrath against the UN offices in Beirut. How trustworthy is a
US imperialist-brokered cease-fire scripted by those who openly flaunt their
own right to use illegal cluster bombs, to violate past agreements like the
Geneva convention, and commit crimes against humanity? We must convert our
revulsion into conscious political opposition to stop their crimes and to
prepare for the struggle that lies ahead. Truly taking the interests of the
oppressed and exploited masses of the Middle East to heart means fighting
against simple answers and not duplicating betrayals that people have already
repeatedly suffered while heroically resisting. No reactionary forces based on
religion or ethnicity can unite the diverse peoples and many nationalities of
the Middle East – from occupied Palestine all the way to occupied Iraq, to
Kurdistan, Turkey, Iran and elsewhere -- and bring about a lasting or genuinely
anti-imperialist solution. And it means combining all our collective strength
to oppose this ugly war and to support the Lebanese and Palestinian people
under siege. These high-tech murderers can create massive terror through their
collective punishment in trying to achieve their aims, but they will never gain
the confidence of the people of the Middle East. That is one problem they
cannot solve. Distrust and hatred must be turned into a conscious political
force aimed squarely at the entire unjust system of imperialism and its
reactionary tentacles strangling the life out of poor and non-compliant
populations. Only a revolutionary movement uniting the oppressed masses in the
Middle East that rejects any form of obscurantist religious leadership and
theocratic regimes, that seeks to break the hold of neo-colonial powers and
their reluctant or willing puppet regimes strewn throughout the region as well
as the imperialists’ outpost, Israel, has a fighting chance to end this
nightmarish cycle of plunder, war and death.
Despite the imperialists’
attempts to numb people into inaction or fatalistic thinking that they are
all-powerful because over and over they brazenly display new levels of brutal
aggression against whole sections of humanity they consider disposable (or
similarly try to suffocate opposition voices of the middle classes with layers
of anaesthetising hypocrisy to justify one intolerable abuse after another),
the law that “oppression breeds resistance” is one they cannot control. We must
not give in one centimetre to their cynical calculations of either wearing down
or repressing the people’s struggles.
New politics must come into being
to lead the people’s revolutionary struggle – a new way of looking at how to
change society, which classes are friends and which are enemies, who to rely on
and what must be done to throw the imperialists out and stand up to its global
hegemony; neither nationalism nor religion can accomplish this. The daily
misery created by imperialism is constantly creating more of its gravediggers
in the Middle East. While this potentially revolutionary social force exists,
it does not yet have sufficient conscious and organised expression -- and it
must. This liberating breakthrough requires the proletarian internationalist
ideology of Marxism-Leninism-Maoism. From amongst those who hate this system
and the unjust wars it generates, fighters and leaders need to dare to step
forward and take up this challenge.
It is way past time to make
common cause to confront the imperialists’ deadly arrogance with the conscious
and powerful strength of the oppressed of the region whose interests lie in a
totally different future, one that can only be wrested out of the current
madness by developing revolution in countries throughout the region as part of
the international struggle to bring down the vicious capitalist-imperialist
system and usher in a whole new world.
Committee of the Revolutionary
Internationalist Movement
8 August 2006
|
Document |
This is an interim constitution
of Federal Democratic Republic of Nepal, 2063, presented by Communist Party of
Nepal to Interim Constitution Draft Committee.
INTERIM CONSTITUTION OF FEDERAL
DEMOCRATIC REPUBLIC OF NEPAL, 2063
Preamble
Whereas, we consider it an historical necessity to institutionalize a full democratic republican state system by bringing to an end the feudal monarchic state in consonance with the mandate of the armed and unarmed democratic movements against the autocratic monarchical centralized feudal system launched by the Nepali people since 1950 A. D. and specifically, the historical People’s Movement launched to institutionalize a republican system in April 2006 on the foundation of the People’s War launched since 1996 by the CPN (Maoist) as well as with the support of the 12-point understanding between the political parties and the Maoist;
And whereas, we are fully committed to preservation and promotion of the country’s sovereignty, independence and territorial integrity;
And whereas, we have a strong conviction that the Nepali people are the only source of all powers of the State;
And whereas, we realize the necessity to have a forward-looking restructuring of the state and society in a way to address on a long-term basis the problems of the country’s majority of the exploited and oppressed class, nationalities, regions, gender and community;
And whereas, we are aware of the fact that, based on the right to self-determination and the policy of autonomous rule of various oppressed nationalities and regions in the hills, valleys and the plains, a federal system with Nepali specificities has to be established by bringing to an end the old unitary structure;
Therefore, we sovereign Nepalese people, through a broad national political convention of the democratic revolutionary forces, hereby annul the existing Constitution of the Kingdom of Nepal 1990 and promulgate and enforce the Interim Constitution of the Federal Democratic Republic of Nepal 2006 for the period until another democratic constitution is created through an elected Constituent Assembly with proportionate and inclusive representation of all classes, nationalities, regions, gender and communities.
Part
1
Directive
Principles of the State
1. A state system of democratic republic shall be established by bringing to an end all the remnants of monarchy and feudal autocracy.
2. There shall be full commitment to the universally accepted norms and values like a multiparty competitive system, adult franchise, periodic elections, rule of law, human rights, fundamental rights etc.
3. Democratic norms and values shall be established in all political, economic, social and cultural sectors by bringing to an end feudal and imperialist exploitation-oppression in all forms.
4. A federal system with Nepali specificities shall be established on the basis of the rights to self-determination and autonomous rule of the oppressed nationalities and regions by bringing to an end the feudal autocratic system based on Arya-Khasa upper caste chauvinism.
5. The State shall be fully secular.
6. All types of feudal land relations existing in agriculture, on which are dependent a large majority of people, shall be abolished, and a progressive land reforms program based on the principle of ‘land to the tillers' shall be implemented.
7. The State shall make special arrangements for workers, peasants, landless squatters, kamaiyas (bonded-laborers), tillers and herdsmen etc.
8. A policy of rapid and widespread national industrialization shall be adopted, and the State shall formulate and implement necessary financial policies and laws for the protection of national industrialists and business community.
9. Bilateral relations shall be established with all countries on the basis of the principles of Panchsheel, and special efforts shall be made to maintain balanced and cordial relations with the two principal neighbors, India and China.
10. All unequal treaties and agreements of the past shall be annulled, and new treaties and agreements based on equality and mutual interest shall be made.
11. The State shall make necessary arrangements for proper respect of those who achieved martyrdom in course of the ten-year People’s War and People’s Movement. Investigations shall be launched to look for those disappeared during that time and the guilty shall be punished duly. The State shall make special arrangements for the security and facility of the martyr families, the families of the disappeared and the injured as well as the maimed.
12. The State shall provide protection to the elderly citizens, the destitute, the physically disabled and those suffering from chronic diseases.
Part
2
Citizenship
1. Every Nepali citizen shall have the rights to citizenship, and no one shall be deprived of the rights without proper reasons.
2. The descendents may be able to acquire the citizenship in the name of either of their parents.
3. Constituting a high level Citizenship Commission, citizenship certificates in recommendation of an all-party committee at the local level shall immediately be distributed, before the Constituent Assembly elections, to the people who have been living in Nepal for a long time but have been deprived of the citizenship, particularly in Madesh.
4. Other provisions relating to acquisition and termination of citizenship shall be as determined by laws.
Part
3
Fundamental
Rights and Duties
1. Fundamental Rights
i. All citizens shall be equal before the law. No discrimination shall be made against any citizen on the grounds of ethnicity, class, gender, region, language, culture and ideology or conviction.
ii. Every citizen shall have freedom to express and publish opinions, establish associations and organizations, elect representatives and be elected, move across the country, assemble and carry on any occupation. No person shall be deprived of their personal liberty save in accordance with the law.
iii. Education, health, shelter and employment shall be the birthrights of every citizen.
iv. Every citizen shall have the right against untouchability, social discrimination and exploitation.
v. Patriarchal exploitation of women in all forms shall end. Daughter shall have equal rights to parental property at par with son. Women shall be entitled full freedom in the issues of marriage, sale and purchase of properties, divorce or conception or abortion of pregnancy. Special rights shall be guaranteed for women in all sectors including their representation in state bodies.
vi. All types of exploitation-oppression including untouchability of the Dalits shall end, and special rights shall be ensured for the Dalits in all sectors.
vii. The bona-fide tiller peasants shall have the right over land.
viii. Laborers and workers shall possess the right to put demands against any type of discrimination and oppression, engage in collective bargaining and go on strike.
ix. Everyone shall possess the right to acquire education and to conduct official works in their respective mother language.
x. Every citizen shall have the right to use their property. But no one shall be allowed to keep property above the limit fixed by law.
xi. Every citizen shall be free to follow or not to follow religion as per their conviction.
xii. The local people shall have primary right over local natural resources, including water, land, forests, mines etc.
xiii. Every citizen shall have the right to effective legal treatment from able courts of law for the assertion of their rights.
2. Duties
i. Every citizen shall have to abide by the constitution and laws.
ii. They shall have to protect the State’s property.
iii. They shall have to enlist in the army and work as demanded by the State for the defence of the country.
Part
4
Interim
Legislature
1. There shall be an all-powerful Interim Legislature in Nepal. The country’s legislative powers to be used as per this Constitution and the laws made under this Constitution shall be vested in this Interim Legislature.
2. A broad National Political Convention shall constitute the Interim Legislature for the interim period. Participation in the Convention and its criteria shall be finalized through negotiation between the CPN (Maoist) and the Seven Political Parties.
3. The broad National Political Convention shall constitute an Interim Legislature as follows:
a) One third representatives from the Seven Political Parties, totalling 101
b) One third representatives from the CPN (Maoist), totalling 101
c) One third representatives from civil society, professional organizations and special personalities of the country who participated in the Democratic Movement, totaling 101. Their selection shall be made through mutual understanding between the Seven Political Parties and the CPN (Maoist).
While selecting representatives, attention shall have to be given to proper inclusion of class, nationalities, regions, gender and other communities.
In this way, the total number of members in the Interim Legislature shall be 303.
4. The reinstated House of Representatives shall be dissolved on the day this Constitution comes into force, and all the powers being hitherto exercised by the House of Representatives shall, pursuant to this Constitution, be exercised by the Interim Legislature.
5. The Interim Legislature shall be the State’s supreme body during the interim period. It shall execute all necessary works relating to formation of the Council of Ministers, elections to constitutional posts, formulation of, amendment to and annulment of laws, foreign relations and approval of treaties and agreements, declaration of war and peace, budget endorsement, elections to the Constituent Assembly etc.
6. The Interim Legislature, in its first meeting, shall elect a Chairperson and a Deputy Chairperson.
7. The Interim Legislature shall pass ordinary decisions with simple majority while the issues of national interest that have long-term impacts shall be decided by two-third majority or through a referendum. Its process shall be as determined.
8. The tenure of the Interim Legislature shall be until the formation of the elected Constituent Assembly.
9. If a post in the Interim Legislature falls vacant before its tenure expires, the vacancy shall be filled for the remaining period. While filling the vacant post, it shall be done on the basis of the same representation.
Part
5
Interim
Government
1. The Interim Legislature shall constitute a Council of Ministers under the leadership of Prime Minister to work as an Interim Government. Executive powers of Nepal shall be vested in the Interim Government or the Council of Ministers. The Council of Ministers shall exercise all executive powers to run day-to-day administration. The Council of Ministers shall be fully accountable to the Interim Legislature.
2. The Prime Minister of the Interim Government shall form a Cabinet and divide portfolios on the basis of the same representation as in the Interim Legislature. The number of members of the Council of Ministers shall not exceed one tenth of the number of members of the Interim Legislature.
Part
6
Interim
Court
1. All judicial works during the interim period shall be conducted by the Supreme Court and its subordinate courts as well as People’s Courts established and being operated in rural areas.
2. Judges at every level shall be appointed after approval by the Interim Legislature or a people’s representative body of the same level. The incumbent judges shall remain in office only if the Interim Legislature endorses them. Otherwise, they shall be relieved of the post.
3. Judges at every level shall be institutionally accountable to the people’s representative body of their own level and to the Chief Justice regarding their day-to-day office work.
Part
7
Interim
Security Provision
1. Nepali Army and the People’s Liberation Army shall, during the time of elections to the Constituent Assembly in the interim period as per the 12-point understanding and the 8-point agreement, be limited within their respective barracks and camps, and they will be monitored by reliable national and international teams.
2. Both the armies shall be under the Interim Legislature and the Interim Government, and the Prime Minister shall be the Supreme Commander of both of them.
3. For internal security provision as well as for monitoring, control and mobilization of both the armies, there shall be a high level Military Commission whose formation and number of members shall be finalized through agreement between the seven political parties and the CPN (Maoist). The Military Commission shall have a chairperson who shall be appointed by the Interim Legislature.
4. Necessary measures shall be taken during the interim period for timely democratization of the Nepali Army that has traditionally been loyal to the monarchy. Its concrete structure and procedure shall be finalized by the Military Commission.
5. A militia shall be created with mutual agreement between the two sides in order to regulate the State’s legal provisions during the interim period and to manage the elections to the Constituent Assembly. The Prime Minister shall mobilize the militia.
6. After the Constituent Assembly elections, a new national army shall be created on the basis of the elections result through mutual agreement.
Part
8
Constitutional
Bodies
The Interim Legislature shall formulate constitutional bodies like Election Commission, Financial Control and Discipline Commission, Public Service Commission etc. that are essential in a democratic system, and appoint commissioners who shall be accountable to the Interim Legislature.
Part
9
Head
of the State
During the interim period when monarchy has come to an end and an elected Constituent Assembly is yet to make an alternative provision, the Chairperson of the Interim Legislature shall act as the Head of the State.
Part
10
Autonomous
Republic and Local Bodies
1. In line with a new federal structure, the country shall be divided into nine autonomous republic states namely Kirant Republic, Madhesh Republic, Tamang Republic, Newa Republic, Tamuwan Republic, Magarat Republic, Tharuwan Republic, Bheri-Karnali Republic and Seti-Mahakali Republic, and in each of them, an interim autonomous republic government shall be formed. The formation of the interim autonomous republic governments shall be based on an agreement between the seven political parties and the CPN (Maoist) of the concerned states.
2. The formation of interim local governments in the districts, villages as well as municipalities of the autonomous republic states shall be as agreed between the seven political parties and the CPN (Maoist) of the concerned states and districts.
3. Following the formation of interim governments in the autonomous states and local bodies, the people’s government operated by the CPN (Maoist) shall be dissolved.
Part
11
Constituent
Assembly
1. As decided by the Interim Government, the elections to the Constituent Assembly shall be held within a year from the date of enforcement of this Constitution.
2. Ensuring inclusive and proportionate representation, the Constituent Assembly shall have a total of 225 members, including ten each from the nine autonomous republic states totalling 90, 125 directly elected with one seat equivalent to 200,000 people as well as ten nominated from among experts and the endangered and marginalized ethnic groups.
3. Women, oppressed nationalities, dalits, the disabled etc. shall be included in the Constituent Assembly in proportion to their population.
4. The Constituent Assembly shall draft a new constitution within a year.
Part
12
Miscellaneous
1. Important political, economic, and social issues of the country shall be decided through referendum.
2. The treaties and agreements with foreign countries relating to the sharing of natural resources or those that have severe long-term impacts on the country shall be endorsed only through a two-third majority of the Legislature or a referendum.
3. The provisions in this Interim Constitution shall be enacted as stated in it and those that are not stated in it shall be enacted as per the decisions of the Interim Legislature and the Interim Government formed pursuant to this Constitution.
4. The Interim Government shall enforce this Constitution after having it endorsed by the Legislature pursuant to this Constitution.
International Department
COMMUNIST PARTY OF NEPAL (MAOIST)
E-mail
address: inf_bulletin@yahoo.com
URL: cpnm.org