Miscellaneous
Parties divided over forms of governance
Major political parties have been sharply divided over the forms of governance—which is a major contentious issue after federalism—to be adopted in the new constitution.Leaders of various parties on Sunday reiterated the positions they had raised during the first Constituent Assembly (CA), hinting that the issue still remains a contentious issue in an effort to draft a new constitution from the second CA.
Speaking in the full House CA which began discussion on the matter on Sunday, Nepali Congress (NC)
Vice-President Ram Chandra Poudel said executive prime minister elected by Parliament and ceremonial president elected by the same elected body would be a suitable and democratic model for the country.
Poudel said both prime minister and the head of state should be accountable to the Parliament. Despite the position on parliamentary system, NC leaders say they are ready to correct the weaknesses of the Parliamentary system that was evident after the political change in 1990.
“We can ensure a provision that opposition parties cannot register no-confidence motion for at least two years. Similarly, prime minister’s tenure should be limited to only two terms,” said NC lawmaker Chandra Kanta Bhandari.
“After 1990, we saw several flaws but there is no alternative to the parliamentary system. We can correct the weaknesses we saw in the past two decades,” he said.
CPN-UML leader Bharat Mohan Adhikari said his party is in favour of directly-elected prime minister and president elected by the parliament. Adhikari, however, said his personal preference is ‘improved parliamentary
system’.
Another CPN-UML lawmaker Ram Hari Subedi said country should go for directly-elected prime ministerial system to ensue political stability.
In the previous CA, major parties had agreed on mixed model in which executive powers will be divided between the president and prime minister. Major parties had also prepared a list of powers to be exercised by president and prime minister. But, in their election manifesto, parties reiterated their respective positions on forms of governance.
The UCPN (Maoist) lawmaker Shakti Bahadur Basnet said president directly elected by people can ensure political stability.
He said the country is going through political instability due to the flawed parliamentary system. “Directly-elected president will also ensure a proper check and balance among the state organs,” he said. The party is advocating for a powerful president elected by people for a fixed term.
Rastriya Prajatantra Party-Nepal (RPP-N) Chairman Kamal Thapa said new forms of governance should accommodate the monarchy. “After the establishment of Loktantra, there is more instability in the country,” he said.