The prerequisite directive for promulgating the Interim Constitution 2006 is the management of arms of both the PLA and NA by the United Nation. Until then, the nullification of the 1990 Constitution cannot be official.

The formation of the interim parliament with the participation of the Maoist leaderships will be legitimate after the activation of the Interim Constitution 2006. Only then will the structure of the interim government cabinet be viable. These steps can activate the Interim Constitution.

Under the current political circumstances, the Constitutional Council cannot be formed by hastily appointing the constitutional and diplomatic statues without the formal procedures for the Interim Constitution 2006 being activated.

It should be obvious to nominees like former chief justice of the Supreme Court Bishwa Nath Upadhyay that such a hasty appointments are premature and constitutionally unviable given the contents of the Comprehensive Peace Accord and the recently signed, Interim Constitution.

GP Koirala’s government has baffled not only the Maoist leaderships but also Nepali people in across nation and the around the globe. The inspiration behind such a move, that appoints constitutional and diplomatic statues under the provision of the interim constitution (which is yet to promulgate), creates doubt regarding the way party politicians envision the new democratic Nepal.

It is a time for every Nepali in the country and around the globe to safeguard the peace and democratic process regardless of the political school of thought to which they belong. We must not forget our fundamental responsibility to reach the goal mandated by the people’s movement II for establishing complete democracy with thorough electoral process. This means we must not let the political party leadership continue with their old habits of undemocratic political practices to play politics in the new democratic Nepal.

If the sovereignty of the nation rests with the people then the nation is not these political parties’ property to instigate the same feudal, oligarchic and arbitrary decision making processes without electoral consensus. The current leadership must realize that times have changed and that the Nepali people will stand for their rights just as they have done against the autocratic monarchy. The main political parties better change their old fashioned mindsets and traditions that are rooted in the feudal oligarchic mode of governance.

The foremost thing for Nepal is to institutionalize electoral democratic procedures to abolish the tradition of arbitrary and oligarchic party politics from all levels of the government. Since the Maoist leadership is committed to the electoral democratic political system, they must fight back to bring change to institutionalize electoral procedures. 

For instance, if the Interim Constitution provides the provision for a Constitutional Council to appoint constitutional and diplomatic statues (without the Interim Parliamentary approval) through hearing and voting procedures, then we must fight back to obtain an amendment.

What has happened is a disgrace to the aspirations of the people, to the peace accords and to the Interim Constitution. It is shame on the leaders for deliberately pushing their old habits of party politics in the name of democracy. We must not permit tenacious oligarchic politics overrule attempts to achieve an electoral establishment. All of us must stand for our rights to institutionalize the electoral democratic parliamentary procedures for all constitutional and diplomatic appointments of the nation.

It is bizarre that Sailaja Acharya has been nominated to diplomatic mission in India because she stood firmly against the People’s Movement II and openly supported the tyrant royal regime. This is a dangerous move by Koirala’s government to set up a lobby in India to bring back the King under a ceremonial monarchy. We have to safeguard our Peace Accord and the preliminary democratic process from such political plots that aim to strengthen the institution of monarchy.

The best solution is to institutionalize the electoral democratic process for the Interim Prime Minister of Nepal to be appointed through Interim Parliamentary hearings and a process of voting.  It is only the electoral rights of people that accords the appointment of constitutional and diplomatic statues of the nation.

This is the time for all of us to rebel against such old fashioned, undemocratic political forces and balance the state power of the Prime Minister under the control of the Interim Parliament. This political incident can be a great lesson for us remain vigilant.  It is also an opportunity to mend mistakes that may have been made while writing the Constitutional Council provisions of the Interim Constitution 2006.

(Note from the Nepal Horizons Editorial Team: The views and opinion expressed in this article are that of the author and not of NHC. We request individuals with interest in Nepal to submit their views on contemporary Nepalese issues to the following e-mail address: editor@nepalhorizons.com.  Pictures of contributors or images that relate to submissions are welcome)