What the taskforce proposes

Agreements, recommendations, concepts prepared by four-party taskforce



1) Form, structure, tenure and operation of election government



Constituent Assembly-Legislature Parliament election will be held on June 5, 2013.



There will be an Interim Election Council of Ministers. The Council of Ministers will have a chairman and members. The chairman will carry out all the tasks that are to be done by the prime minister as mentioned in the constitution. The chairman of the Council of Ministers will allocate portfolios to ministers as per the constitution.

The chief justice, who will be chairman of the Council of Ministers, will be relieved of all his responsibilities at the Supreme Court and a new chief justice will independently carry out all the justice-delivery and administrative work at the Supreme Court. The acting chief justice will perform all the duties of the chief justice and the chief justice, who will be chairman of the Council of Ministers, will remain committed to safeguarding and maintaining the dignity and independence of the judiciary. After completion of his duties as chairman of the Council of Ministers, he will resume his responsibilities as chief justice in line with the established traditions of dispensation of justice.[break]



Structure: The maximum number of members of the Council of Ministers including its chairman will be 11.



Tenure: The term of the Interim Election Council of Ministers will automatically come to an end after the new prime minister is elected through the Legislature-Parliament following the election of the Constituent Assembly-Legislature Parliament.



In case of failure to hold the polls on the stipulated date, a High-Level Political Consultation Committee will recommend to the president a name for the new prime minister of the Interim Election Government, within 15 days after the expiry of term of the above-mentioned Interim Election Government.



The chairman of the Interim Election Council of Ministers will return to his previous position in the Supreme Court after the election of the new prime minister is held. The chairman of the Council of Ministers will appoint the members of the Council of Ministers in consultation with the High-Level Political Consultation Committee.

The main task of the Interim Election Council of Ministers will be to hold elections to the Constituent Assembly-Legislature Parliament within the stipulated date. The other tasks to be carried out by a Council of Ministers will be done by the Interim Election Council of Ministers.



But the Interim Election Council of Ministers will not be able to carry out work of a long-term nature such as those requiring the endorsement of two-thirds of the members of the Legislature-Parliament.



2) Formation of High-Level Political Consultation Committee and its jurisdiction



Formation: There will be a High-Level Political Consultation Committee, with representation from all the major political parties. The following will be its jurisdiction:

-Create conducive environment for holding an election within the stipulated date

-Make efforts to maintain an environment of consensus among the political parties

-Provide necessary suggestions and consultations to the Interim Election Government

The Committee will itself determine its working procedure and operation module for these purposes.



3) Number of members of Constituent Assembly and its tenure



Number: Ensuring proportional representation of various groups and communities including women, Dalits, marginalized groups/indigenous nationalities, backward regions and Madhesis, there will be altogether 491 members in the Constituent Assembly-Legislature Parliament, including 240 members under the First Past the Post electoral system, 240 members elected under a proportional electoral system and 11 members nominated by the Council of Ministers in political consensus.

Tenure: The election to the Constituent Assembly-Legislature Parliament will be held for a term of five years. The Constituent Assembly-Legislature Parliament will function both in the capacity of Constituent Assembly and Legislature-Parliament until the Constituent Assembly completes its task of drafting a new statute, and will function in the capacity of Legislature-Parliament only after the completion of the constitution-drafting process.



4. Voters’ List



All Nepali citizens completing 18 years of age by mid-April, 2012 will be eligible to vote.

The voters’ list prepared by the Election Commission on the basis of citizenship certificates will be taken as the basis for the upcoming election of the Constituent Assembly-Legislature Parliament.

A voters’ list will be compiled along with the voters’ pictures. A special campaign to collect the names of those yet to register their names in the voters’ list will be launched immediately.



5) Process and issues for removing constitutional difficulties

The cabinet will prepare a draft proposal based on agreement among the political parties to set out the issues to be recommended to the president. The following will be done on the following issues for removing constitutional difficulties concerning them:



6) Necessary legal arrangements for elections

Necessary work will be done as per a proposal to be prepared by the Election Commission concerning necessary election-related laws and other management matters. Political parties may provide suggestions after studying the proposal.

7. Appointments to the Election Commission and other constitutional bodies

The Interim Election Government will immediately make appointments to various constitutional bodies including the Election Commission.



8) Issues related to taking ownership of the work of the dissolved Constituent Assembly



The agreements reached among political parties in the Constituent Assembly will be assumed/ownership will be taken of the work done in the Constituent Assembly



9) Remaining work of the Peace Process



Remaining tasks of the Peace Process will be completed through active initiatives

The Truth and Reconciliation Commission will be formed at the earliest

Remaining tasks concerning the integration of Maoist combatants will be completed immediately

The current prime minister will immediately settle the issue of their rank determination through a Special Committee as per agreement reached earlier.

The Truth and Reconciliation Commission and Disappearance Commission will be formed immediately in line with the spirit and sense of reconciliation as per the agreement among the top leaders of the four parties and the seven-point agreement reached earlier.

Citizenship certificates by descent will be provided to the children of those acquiring citizenship certificates by birth



9) About local bodies election

Local bodies’ elections will be held by mid-December, 2013.

Related story

FinMin Khanal assumes office, forms taskforce on budget impleme...