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UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 KATHMANDU 000717 
 
SENSITIVE 
SIPDIS 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: PREL PGOV PHUM KDEM NP
SUBJECT: NEPAL: CONSTITUTION TIMETABLE REVISED AGAIN--AND 
AGAIN 
 
¶1. (SBU) Summary: The Constituent Assembly's (CA's) timetable 
for drafting Nepal's new constitution has been delayed five 
times.  Only four of ten constitution drafting sub-committees 
have presented their concept papers to the full committee. 
In an attempt to resolve the impasse, both the interim CA 
chairman and Nepali Prime Minister Madhav Nepal convened 
meetings of the major political parties on July 23 and 25 to 
prod political leaders to expedite the constitution drafting 
process.  Despite significant ideological differences among 
Nepal's main political parties, their declared platforms for 
governing structures are surprisingly similar.  End Summary 
 
Sliding Timetables Leave Scant Room for Public Debate 
--------------------------------------------- -------- 
 
¶2. (U) The Business Advisory Committee (BAC), the CA's 
rule-making body, met on July 16 and for the fifth time 
amended the calendar for drafting Nepal's new constitution. 
The final deadline of May 28, 2010 has not been changed, but 
the timetables for the ten thematic committees have 
progressively been pushed back, prompting concerns the 
eight-week window for public discussion/comment on the 
constitution has now been halved to just four weeks.  The BAC 
is now requiring the thematic committees to conclude their 
discussion of the constitution draft by September 6 and the 
Constitutional Committee (CC) is scheduled to have its 
constitution draft completed by November 21. The CA is 
currently scheduled to discuss the CC,s initial draft from 
November 22 to December 6, 2008. 
 
¶3. (U) Only four thematic committees (Committee for the 
Protection of the Rights of Minorities and Marginalized 
Communities, Committee for Determining the Structure of 
Constitutional Bodies, Committee for Determining the Basis of 
Cultural and Social Solidarity, and the Committee for 
Preserving National Interests) have submitted their concept 
papers to the full committee. Due to committee structuring 
and composition, the remaining six committees have 
responsibility for complex, inter-connected issues that 
require broad-based consensus and inter-committee 
cooperation. Issues yet to be addressed include: contentious 
questions such as federalism and power-sharing authorities. 
 
¶4. (SBU) The army integration timetable has also added a 
layer of complexity to the constitution drafting process. 
Maoist leaders have made statements in the press that any 
integration of the military should be put on hold until after 
the constitution is finalized.  Agni Kharel, NC Constituent 
Assembly member, told EmbOff that integration of the People's 
Liberation Army (PLA) should be completed before the 
constitution drafting is finalized.  He warned that if the 
constitution is completed and promulgated without the 
integration of the PLA, unintegrated combatants might use 
coercion or violence to help the Maoists secure a majority of 
the seats in the next election. 
 
Pressure from Above 
------------------- 
 
¶5. (U) On July 23 Nepal,s interim CA Chairman Subash Nemwang 
met with leaders of the three main political parties -- the 
Unified Communist Party of Nepal (UCPN-M), Nepali Congress 
(NC), and the Communist Party of Nepal-United Marxist 
Leninist (UML) -- to implore them to expedite the 
constitution drafting process.  The major party leaders all 
expressed their commitment to draft the constitution on time. 
 In a further initiative to break the impasse, PM Madhav 
Nepal intervened on July 25 and convened an all-party meeting 
during which he asked leaders to resolve differences and 
return to constitution drafting.  Surya Dhungel, president of 
the Consortium of Constitutional Experts, told EmbOff the 
Nepali public and international community need to exert 
pressure on the GON to ensure the constitution is drafted on 
time. 
 
 
KATHMANDU 00000717  002 OF 002 
 
 
Major Party Platform Organizational Sketches 
-------------------------------------------- 
 
¶6. (U) These are the preferred governmental models proposed 
by Nepal's major political parties: 
 
NC - Bicameral legislature; Ceremonial President and 
Executive PM; Three-tier Judiciary; mixed member proportional 
representation electoral system (mixed member is defined as 
some directly elected, others appointed by the party); 
Federal Structure with autonomous states 
 
UML - Bicameral legislature; Ceremonial President and 
Executive PM; Three-tier Judiciary; mixed member proportional 
representation electoral system; Federal Democratic Republic 
 
Madhesi People,s Rights Forum (MPRF) - Bicameral 
legislature; Executive President and no PM, Chief Minister; 
mixed member proportional representation electoral system 
 
UCPN-M (Maoist) - Unicameral legislature; Executive 
President; Four-tier Judiciary (the fourth tier would be a 
local court that does not currently exist in the Nepali legal 
system); mixed member proportional representation electoral 
system; Federal Democratic Republic with 13 provinces 
 
Committees for All Shapes and Sizes 
----------------------------------- 
 
¶7. (U) There are 10 CA thematic committees in addition to the 
main Constitutional Committee, which is comprised of all the 
major political party leaders who are also CA members. 
 
Thematic Committees 
- Fundamental Rights and Directive Principles Committee 
- Committee for the Protection of the Rights of Minorities 
and Marginalized Communities 
- Committee for Restructuring the State and Sharing of State 
Power 
- Committee for Determining the Structure of Governance of 
State 
- Committee on Judiciary 
- Committee for Determining the Structure of Constitutional 
Bodies 
- Committee on Natural Resources, Economic Rights and Sharing 
of Revenues 
- Committee for Determining the Structure of the Legislative 
Body 
- Committee for Determining the Basis of Cultural and Social 
Solidarity 
- Committee for Preserving National Interests 
 
Comment 
------- 
 
¶8. (SBU)  The Government has made incremental progress but 
there are only ten months to go before the May 2010 deadline 
and a rocky road awaits. The CA is in recess at the moment 
and the government has failed to fill the chairmanship of the 
Constitutional Committee which is further hindering momentum; 
the Maoists want the chairmanship and argue that as the 
largest party it is rightfully theirs.  The final sticking 
point to be resolved will likely be federalism--specifically 
centered around devolution of power, language and resource 
issues, provincial boundaries, and ethnic concerns. Given the 
history of postponement, the current political crisis, and 
the intractability of complex issues, it seems likely 
constitution drafting timetables will continue to slip. An 
equally troublesome development is the shrinkage of time for 
public debate and discussion on the constitution, which could 
translate into lack of public support and a loss of 
legitimacy for Nepal's constitution. 
MOON