What Are the Complex Issues, Including Provincial Structures Without MPs, as the Balen Government Pursues a ‘Difficult Path’ for Constitutional Amendment?

The government formally initiated the process of preparing a discussion paper for constitutional amendment starting Wednesday. This began with the first meeting of the task force formed specifically to draft the constitutional amendment discussion paper. However, the initial meeting, chaired by the task force led by Prime Minister Balendra Shah Balen’s political advisor Asim Shah, was marked by partial attendance of members.

Manoj Bhatt, General Secretary of the Rastriya Janamorcha party, was en route to Kathmandu to attend the meeting but got stuck in a traffic jam in Daunne, Nawalparasi, and said, “I couldn’t make it to the first meeting.” In his absence, Durga Paudel from Janamorcha participated in the meeting. The main opposition party, Nepali Congress, has not sent any representatives to the task force. Congress spokesperson Devaraj Chalise stated, “We have refrained from sending members as we seek clarifications on certain issues. Once discussions occur, we will participate.” Meanwhile, Congress President Gagan Kumar Thapa has expressed the party’s readiness to cooperate with the government on constitutional amendments and related matters during party meetings.

According to the Prime Minister’s Office, the task force aims to deliberate on complicated subjects such as the electoral system, a directly elected executive, full proportional representation, prohibiting MPs from becoming ministers, non-partisan local governments, and reforms to provincial structures. Is the government venturing into ‘complex’ issues? According to task force member and Janamorcha General Secretary Bhatt, “Our primary focus will be on abolishing the provincial structure and enhancing the authority of local levels.” Alongside Janamorcha, the Rastriya Prajatantra Party (RPP) also supports abolishing federalism. Invited members from Madhes-based central parties are ardent federalists, and other parties like Nepali Congress, CPN-UML, and the CPN (Maoist Centre) also endorse federalism.

The ruling Rastriya Swatantra Party (RSWP) has advocated for reforms to the provincial structure, emphasizing governance forms and electoral system improvements in its documents. Consequently, Janamorcha’s Bhatt views the government’s initiative to identify amendment topics as complicated. He added, “Both RSWP and we support abolishing federalism; there is also a significant disagreement among major parties over the directly elected executive. Hence, this is not as straightforward as they portray it.”

Constitutional amendment requires a two-thirds majority in the National Assembly as well. The constitution mandates that any amendment bill be passed by at least two-thirds of the total sitting members in both federal parliamentary houses. RSWP does not hold representation in the National Assembly. Moreover, provincial consent is necessary for provincial matters. Therefore, RSWP understands its own limited numerical strength and political challenges. “If all constitutional amendment topics are opened simultaneously, it will be extremely difficult and complex for us, similar to the Constitution Assembly taking seven years to draft the constitution,” remarked MP Mohanlal Acharya, a RSWP task force member. “Party positions themselves differ.”

The government’s action plan approved on Chaitra 13 (late March) includes establishing the task force under its governance reform agenda of 100 points. It specifies the creation of a task force to “establish national consensus on long-term political and institutional reforms, including the electoral system and constitutional amendment.” Since its inception, RSWP has consistently raised the constitutional amendment issue. Its 2022 general election manifesto proposed that, in accordance with the province’s characteristics, ministries would vary across provinces. The extended central committee meeting held in Chitwan on Kartik 21-22 (November) presented a political report proposing an independent, non-partisan, and respected figure as president, with the National Assembly chairperson acting as vice president. RSWP also supports a directly elected prime minister and chief ministers, with experts serving as ministers. Additionally, RSWP aims to reduce the number of empowered local governments from 753 to fewer than 500. The party has also put forward the concept that MPs should not exist at the provincial level. It proposed forming provincial councils comprising 20 to 35 members elected proportionally by local government members, as outlined in its previous election manifesto. However, these ideas have become less explicitly stated in the latest election manifesto.