["Top leaders of the Nepali Congress (NC), CPN-UML, UCPN (Maoist) and Madhesi People's Rights Forum-Democratic (MPRF-D) agreed to adopt an 8-province federal model, parliamentary system of governance, mixed electoral model and include the provision of a constitutional court for 10 years in the new statute as part of a compromise deal." (See: <http://www.business-standard.com/article/pti-stories/nepal-parties-strike-long-awaited-constitution-deal-115060900799_1.html>.)
So, ***it is a multi-party bicameral parliamentary system, having both direct (first past the post) and proportional representation to the lower house, with 8 provinces in a federal setup. The UCPN (Maoist) has dropped its insistence on a Presidential system and the CPN (UML) has agreed to raise the number of provinces from 6 to 8***. The judiciary will be independent of the legislative bodies and the executive. Till the next election as per the new Constitution, the Interim Constitution-2007 will operate.] I/II. http://www.un.org/apps/news/story.asp?NewsID=51102 Ban welcomes 'milestone' agreement on new Nepal constitution Protestors in Kathmandu gathered ahead of a 27 May 2012 deadline for lawmakers to agree on a new draft constitution for Nepal. Photo: IRIN/Naresh Newar 9 June 2015 – Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon has welcomed the agreement of a new constitution for Nepal as “a major milestone” in the country's democratic development, a spokesperson for the United Nations confirmed today. In a statement issued this afternoon, the spokesperson said Mr. Ban applauded the “diligent effort and constructive leadership” demonstrated by Nepal's political leaders in reaching the agreement on 8 June amid the country's wider reconstruction efforts following the devastating earthquakes of April and May. “The Secretary-General encourages all political leaders to take decisive steps to implement the agreement, work on remaining issues and complete the constitution drafting process through inclusive consultation in the broad interest of the Nepali people,” continued the statement. “This achievement is particularly laudable as it was reached amid challenging circumstances caused by the major earthquakes of April and May.” In addition, the UN spokesperson reiterated the Secretary-General's ongoing commitment to Nepal's peace process and its reconstruction while also reaffirming the Organization's continuing support for the country. The 25 April earthquake, and its 7.3 magnitude follow-up on 12 May, damaged 26 of Nepal's hospitals and over 1,100 health facilities while affecting some 5.6 million people, half of whom have been displaced. An estimated 8,500 people were killed by the two quakes. Moreover, the UN's Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) has confirmed that 8.1 million people are in need of humanitarian support while another 1.9 million require food assistance. II. http://www.ekantipur.com/2015/06/09/top-story/what-prepared-parties-for-deal-with-full-text-of-the-16-pt-pact/406319.html What prepared parties for deal (with full text of the 16-pt pact) KATHMANDU, JUN 09 - The deal on the new constitution became possible after the major parties changed their earlier positions and took flexible stances on the contentious issues. In the meeting held at Prime Minister Sushil Koirala’s residence in Baluwatar on Monday morning, top leaders of the Nepali Congress, the CPN-UML, the UCPN (Maoist) and the Madhesi Janadhikar Forum-Loktantrik agreed to go for eight provinces. The deal was clinched after the NC and the UML agreed to move from their position of six provinces, while the main opposition UCPN (Maoist) and the MJF-L abandoned their call for immediate demarcation of the states. Soon after an understanding with the ruling parties, Maoist Chairman Dahal held a meeting with the top leaders of his party. Some Maoist leaders were of the view that the party should not ink the pack without an agreement on demarcation. Dahal, however, stood firm that the party should sign an agreement to provide a way out of the logjam. After forging an agreement in the party, Dahal convened a meeting of the 30-party alliance. “The UCPN (Maoist) has decided to register a note of dissent on parliamentary system. The Madhes-based parties should lend their support to promulgate the constitution in a similar way,” Dahal’s aide Chudamani Khadka quoted him as saying in the meeting. According to him, Dahal including top leaders of the party, signed the deal with the realisation that eight years had gone by without a concrete step on the constitution front and the country cannot sustain a prolonged transition. Intensive talks were held among the top leaders of the major parties in the last couple of days. A few days ago, they had settled the row over the electoral system and issues such as the judiciary and forms of government were already sorted. The parties were holding discussions either on six or eight provinces. CPN-UML Chairman KP Oli, who had stood against more than six provinces, agreed to go for eight provinces and this paved the way for constitution finalisation. The Nepali Congress and the CPN-UML, which were firm on settling the contentious issues through the voting process before April 25 earthquake, abandoned their position in favour of a consensus approach. After the earthquake, the relationship between the ruling and opposition parties had improved. The ruling and opposition parties jointly issued a common resolution motion after the earthquake, conveying a message of unity. A team of second-rung leaders of the major parties were quietly working to make a deal possible. Maoist leaders Narayan Kaji Shrestha, Krishna Bahadur Mahara and Top Bahadur Rayamajhi; UML leaders Bishnu Poudel, Ishwor Pokhrel and Agni Kharel and NC leaders Mahesh Acharya, Narahari Acharya and Purna Bahadur Khadka had been working to pave the way for the deal. The 16-point agreement (Full Text) 1. The Federal Democratic Republic of Nepal will have eight provinces based on five criteria of identity and four criteria of capability. 2. Two-thirds majority of provincial assemblies will name the provinces. 3. The Nepal government will form a federal commission to recommend on demarcation of federal provinces. The commission will have a tenure of six months. The Legislature-Parliament will take a final decision on the demarcation with a two-thirds majority after the recommendation of the commission. Parliament and Electoral System 4. There will be a bicameral parliament comprising federal legislature parliament and the upper house. Provincial parliaments will be unicameral. 5. Mixed electoral system will be adopted for parliamentary election. There will be 275 members in Parliament. There will be 165 constituencies based on geography and population. A total of 165 lower house members will be elected through first-past-the-post (FPTP) system. The rest—110--will be elected through the proportional representation system. 6. The upper house will have 45 members--40 of the members will be elected equally from each federal province. The remaining five will be nominated by President on the recommendation of the Council of Ministers. Forms of Government 7. To run the state affairs, a federal democratic republic multiparty parliamentary system of governance will be adopted. The leader of the party having a clear majority or having support of other parties in Parliament will become the executive prime minister. 8. There will be a constitutional President in Nepal. An electoral college of the federal legislature parliament and provincial assemblies will elect the President. (The UCPN (Maoist) has its differences on the parliamentary system of governance and the constitutional president. Despite this, the party agrees to taking forward the constitution writing process.) 9. After the promulgation of the new constitution, the election of the President, Vice President, Prime Minister, Speaker and Deputy Speaker will be held by the transformed Legislature-Parliament as per the Interim Constitution-2007. 10. Until the next election of the House of Representatives, the transformed Legislature-Parliament will hold the election of the Prime Minister, vote of confidence, no confidence motion and Cabinet formation as per the Interim Constitution-2007. The impeachment of the President, Vice President, Prime Minister, Speaker, Deputy Speaker will be in accordance with the Interim Constitution-2007. Judicial System 11. An independent, impartial and efficient judicial system will be formed as per the concept of independent judiciary. 12. The Supreme Court will be the court of record. It will be authorised to make final interpretation of the constitution. 13. A Constitutional Court will be formed in order to settle disputes on the jurisdictions between the provinces and the Centre, between provinces, between provinces and local bodies, and election-related disputes of the House of Representatives, National Assembly and provincial assemblies. The Constitutional Court shall have the final decision on these issues. The court will be chaired by the Chief Justice of the Supreme Court and will comprise two senior-most justices, and two legal experts who are qualified for the post of Supreme Court Justice. The tenure of the Constitutional Court will be 10 years from the promulgation of the new constitution. 14. The provision on the formation of the Judicial Council will be as determined by the Interim Constitution-2007. 15. The constitution writing process will be taken forward based on the spirit of this fundamental agreement on federalism, forms of government, electoral system, and judicial system. Local Body Election 16. The election of local bodies will be held as soon as possible to strengthen the representation and participation of the people. Sushil Koirala, Prime Minister and President, Nepali Congress KP Sharma Oli, Chairman, CPN-UML Pushpa Kamal Dahal, Chairman, UCPN (Maoist) Bijay Kumar Gachhadar, Chairman, Madhesi Janadhikar Forum-Loktantrik (Unofficial translation of the agreement signed by the leaders of the four parties on Monday night) -- Peace Is Doable -- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "Green Youth Movement" group. To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an email to [email protected]. To post to this group, send an email to [email protected]. Visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/greenyouth. For more options, visit https://groups.google.com/d/optout.
