Constitution of Nepal (2015)

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The constitution of September 20, 2015 of Nepal was adopted after a difficult political process after the end of the civil war and defines Nepal as an independent, indivisible, sovereign, secular, inclusive, democratic, socialism-oriented Federal Republic. It replaces the transitional constitution from 2007.

history

The call for a new constitution was made by the Maoist rebels who had waged a ten-year civil war in Nepal since 1996. After the rebels took control of most of the country, the king was forced to abdicate and the war ended with the 2006 peace accord. Two years later, the Maoists won the elections for the first constituent assembly , resulting in the abolition of the 240-year-old monarchy .

Despite repeated extensions of its two-year term, this first Constituent Assembly was unable to agree on a new constitution. The elections for a second constituent assembly took place in November 2013.

This gathering was again dominated by the traditional parties. These parties and the Maoists worked together to push through a new draft in June 2018, stating that the catastrophic earthquakes in April and May 2015 induced them to do so. In accordance with the transitional provisions, the Constituent Assembly took on the role of the regular parliament on September 20, 2015 until new elections. These took place on November 26, 2017 and December 7, 2017.

Some of the many ethnic groups in Nepal did not feel sufficiently represented by the new constitution. In particular, they did not agree with the layout of the newly created provinces. This particularly affected the Madhesi in the south of the country, who now formed the minority in two provinces and not the majority in one province. The anger was so great that representatives of this ethnic group blocked border crossings with India in the weeks following the adoption of the constitution, thus largely cutting off supplies to the country.

content

Federal Republic

The new constitution transformed Nepal into a federal republic, a federal state. The proposal, which originally came from the Maoists, was later accepted by most parties because of Nepal's diversity. In Nepal z. B. spoken over 100 languages. The society is very divided into different castes and there are many ethnic groups within the country. Federalization had become necessary to take this diversity into account.

The constitution laid down provisional boundaries for the seven newly created provinces that would take on the role of states within the federation. The constitution did not specify names for the provinces, but these names were to be determined by their later provincial parliaments. A commission should continue to set its final limits.

There was a great deal of debate within Nepalese society as to whether the provinces should be demarcated according to ethnic criteria. 40 people were killed during the protests against the new constitution.

Parliament and the electoral system

In order to give political representation to ethnic, religious and social groups that had previously been discriminated against in the election for the House of Representatives in Nepal, the lower house of the new bicameral parliament, it was stipulated that the parties that nominate candidates for proportional representation are obliged to represent women and a range of social, ethnic and religious groups. Women should make up at least one third of the total number of elected MPs from each party in parliament. In the event that a party fails to reach this number by majority vote, it will need to run more women on proportional representation to ensure that a third of its total elected candidates are women. Named for the groups to be included on the electoral lists: the Dalit , the Adibasi Janajati (natives of the mountainous region), the Khas Arya (a collective term for the Nepali-speaking, relative majority people of Nepal divided into many castes), the Madhesi (majority people of the Terai ), the Tharu (natives of the Terai), Muslims, women and backward regions.

Executive power

The President of Nepal is elected indirectly by an electoral college made up of members of both chambers of the Bundestag and the seven provincial parliaments. The term of office is five years and he can only be elected President twice. Its role is essentially ceremonial.

The Prime Minister of Nepal is appointed by the President on the proposal of the majority party or coalition in the lower house. It forms the government, which cannot have more than 25 members and is collectively accountable to the House.

citizenship

The constitution provides that Nepalese citizenship can only be acquired at birth if the father of a child is Nepalese. In the case of a mother's marriage to a foreigner, the child can only acquire Nepalese citizenship if the father acquires Nepalese citizenship. This rule applies in particular to the Tharu, Madhesi and other ethnic groups who live in the Terai , the lowlands near the Indian border, and who have a long history of mixed marriages with Indians. This point is all the more delicate because many rights, e.g. B. the acquisition of a driver's license, the opening of a bank account, are reserved for nationals only or have different rules depending on nationality (property or inheritance).

Web links

Remarks

  1. ↑ Part-1 Preliminary - Nepal Law Commission. Retrieved January 11, 2020 (American English).
  2. ↑ a b c d e Charles Haviland: Why is Nepal's new constitution controversial? In: BBC News . September 19, 2015 ( bbc.com [accessed December 13, 2018]).
  3. ↑ a b Nepal. Pratinidhi Sabha (House of Representatives). Last Elections. Inter-Parliamentary Union, accessed September 16, 2018 .
  4. ↑ Nepal's political quake. New constitution divides the country ( Memento from December 22, 2016 in the Internet Archive ). In: 3sat.de. November 6, 2015.
  5. ↑ a b Thomas Benedikter: Nepal has a new constitution. September 29, 2015, accessed December 13, 2018 .
  6. ↑ Art. 62: Election of President. Nepal Law Commission, accessed December 13, 2018 .
  7. ↑ Art. 64 (2): Qualification for President. Nepal Law Commission, accessed December 13, 2018 .
  8. ↑ Anshuman Behera: Constitutional bias. (archived version of the article). In: The Asian Age. September 23, 2015, accessed December 13, 2018 .
  9. ↑ Laurence Defranoux: Le Népal dans une nouvelle ère politique. In: liberation.fr. September 17, 2015, accessed December 13, 2018 (French).