On the eve of the general election for a new Constituent Assembly (CA), Nepal’s political parties have done a good job by coming out with clear stands on fundamental issues related. Big political parties are sticking to their vision on important questions like restructuring of the state and governing institutions, they have made their plans clear. Going by their revelation, there is no possibility of a compromise on, for example, the governance system. The UCPN (Maoists) wants a people-elected President, the CPM (UML) has opted for a directly elected Prime Minister, and Nepali Congress advocates for a Prime Minister elected by the parliament. Four years of the first Constituent Assembly were wasted on negotiation for a consensus. If the same process is repeated in the new assembly, chances are that the associated chaos would be repeated too. However, through the election the parties have opened up a new opportunity to frame the constitution, notwithstanding their differences on other important subjects.
The new opportunity calls for an additional provision in the electoral regulations without changing the ongoing process. The new provision should recognize the voting pattern of proportional representation as people’s choice for the agenda of political parties. Under the existing system, besides the directly elected members, political parties also send representatives to the CA on the basis of proportional votes. A new regulation should be added to the effect that the people’s mandate to different parties under this provision also means approval of their manifesto. The new constitution should, therefore, be framed according to the agenda set by the party that wins the majority of proportional votes. However, such a party must secure more than 50 percent of the total votes. In case no party is able to do so, a second round of voting should be held between the two parties securing highest votes in the first round. The agenda of the party that secures more votes in the final round will form the basis of the new constitution.
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A new constitution can be ready within weeks. The new CA will have to accept the constitutional concept and framework of the party winning the people’s mandate in the proportional representation voting, either in the first round or the second. Minor points of conflict in the constitution writing can be resolved by putting them to vote and deciding by a simple majority. The provision of two-third majority should be discarded, as major issues will be decided according to the manifesto of the highest-securing party.
This method is, moreover, in tune with the spirit of proportional representation. Under this system, a voter chooses a party for its views reflected in its manifesto. If the majority of the people in Nepal follow due processes in voting for a party in the first, and if necessary, second round, there should be no objection to accepting its agenda as the basis of the new constitution. Once this principle is accepted in the electoral process, voters will read the manifestoes of political parties more closely. Otherwise, they may just regard it as a document of insincere promises. This new provision will clearly tell us the kind of governance system and federal formation that people prefer. It is also possible that they may reject the idea of federalism. This will also prevent political leaders from indulging in unending negotiations over major provisions of the constitution.
If no new process or device is adopted to produce a new constitution, there is no way Nepal can get a new constitution. The manifestos of political parties have shown that they stand poles apart on important aspects of a new constitution. If they did not agree on them yesterday, there is no possibility that they will do so tomorrow. Therefore, a new approach has got to be devised to produce a new constitution for Nepal. The new approach, in this case, works on the democratic principle of getting a mandate from the people rather than leaving the responsibility to their representatives.
The constitution-framing process in the first CA demonstrated that a handful of top leaders high-jacked the assembly’s power to decide what should be there in the constitution. The same phenomenon was observed in the amendment of the Interim Constitution to facilitate the formation of a non-political government in order to hold a fresh election for a CA. In order to reverse the concentration of power in the hands of a few leaders, it is advisable to follow a new path. This path will devolve the power of deciding the national agenda and place it in the hands of the people. The people can choose from the options various political parties have provided in their manifestos, and give their verdict. In case of a failure of any party to gain absolute majority, the victor can easily be decided in the second round. After all, the machinery of the Election Commission will surely remain in place for some time to come.
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