Be Serious
DOES the Constitution of the Kingdom of Nepal 1990 need to be amended? Does
the decade old document need not be changed? Of late political parties in Nepal are
speaking for and against constitutional changes without really bothering to explain why.
Main opposition Communist Party of Nepal (United Marxist-Leninist) was the first political
organisation to sound out the need for making changes in the Constitution, but that party
has yet to state as to why it is in favour of such a proposition. Nor has CPN (UML) hinted
at the kind of changes it wants made in the Constitution. As is known to all, our
Constitution guarantees "basic human rights to every citizen of Nepal, multiparty
democracy with Parliamentary System of Government, Constitutional Monarchy and
people’s sovereignty." The Constitution also lays stress on Independent
Judiciary. These are the broad characteristics of the Constitution. When we are discussing
or dealing with issues like ‘amending the Constitution’, we need to be a bit
serious and more businesslike. May be a decade is long enough to contemplate the
constitutional amendments or may be it is too short a time to think along that line, but
the point of reference should never be how many years we have spent after the promulgation
of the existing Constitution. Any such debate must be guided by and based wholly on whats
and the whys. Amid this background, the Political Science Association Nepal (POLSAN) on
Saturday brought a number of political figures and leading experts on Constitution
together to discuss "Consolidation of democracy and Parliamentary exercise, and the
question of Constitutional amendment." The participants deliberating on the topic
expressed their views, as carried in the news reports, but seemed more personal than
official or institutional. Such debates, if they lack the seriousness of purpose, will not
lead any party to any conclusion. Therefore, the political parties or the organisations
that deal with serious businesses should delve into the specifics giving concrete
suggestions so that the country can be benifitted in broadest possible way.
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