Why did we write our own constitution of Nepal?

There comes a day in our lifetime when we Nepali must choose a path that will decide the future of our country.

Today, we are at the cross-roads and must make a choice: Do we unite Nepali of all ages, ethnic groups and beliefs to transform Nepal into a shining beacon of humanity? Or, do we accept Nepal as a failed nation?

Our common sense tells us, “It is our right to live free in a Nepal ruled by law.”  Therefore, it is our responsibility to rise against anyone who restricts us from our non-negotiable rights. Should Nepal’s rulers withhold us from our rights, it becomes our duty to organize ourselves to protect our rights. Standing up for these rights ensures that our government always remains a servant of us citizens, never our master.

Our constitution is our right! Timely delivery of constitution is non-negotiable. Each day we delay this, countless Nepali die inside and outside the country because of Nepal’s failed system. Millions of Nepali are forced to take extreme measures to survive. Many leave the country. Those who stay behind face the harsh realities of absence of law, pervasive criminal corruption, lawlessness and denial of justice. While we Nepali suffer in millions, our rulers fail to rise above their myopic party politics. They claim Nepal will be better after declaration of the new constitution, which they never show. As our society slowly degenerates,  ‘bibek’ is getting replaced by ‘bal’ as a new generation grows up seeing ‘hopelessness, corruption and apathy’ all around.

 Our representatives have taken hundred of billions from us to build this constitution. Yet, they continue to fail miserably after 6 agonizing long years. They repeatedly make baseless promises.  However, they never deliver that one unifying law, our constitution. What crime is worse than this?

 Enough is Enough! We must build an alternative. This is why BibekSheel Nepali united concerned citizens from all walks of life to build and publish a new constitution on Magh 8, 2071. We have not spent a single paisa of Nepali taxpayer money and have delivered a working constitution for the Nepali people.

You may ask – why have we created the Nepali Constitution when those elected to do so have failed?

We wanted to prove that Nepali constitution can be built on hope, not fear. It can be built with honest intentions. It can be built by diverse people from different walks of life without wasting billions and years fighting. Nepalese must unite if those sent to work for us, fail.

Overall, we wanted to offer Nepali people an option. You might further ask, what are the major attributes of our version of the Nepali Constitution, and why should Nepali people care?

We started building this constitution 3 years ago. During this time, we asked – What will create the environment for fair prosperity of all Nepali people? What will deliver timely and adequate justice? What will lay the foundation for the right leadership to lead successive governments that deliver to the people? What will free our elected officials from being held hostage by party or tribe or caste or sex? What will hold timely elections? What will give strong mandate (space and time) to leaders to deliver their promises? What will allow equality among citizens without discrimination? What will protect the tradition and culture of Nepal’s diverse groups while allowing cultural harmony?

We believe our published Nepal constitution 2071 has balanced solutions to the above questions. It is pragmatic and an evolving law of our land.

You may add – how did all this start?
Our constitution building process started the day after the first Constituent Assembly was dissolved on May 28th 2012, nearly 3 years ago.

We looked around us. We took lessons from hundreds of citizens’ gatherings to understand our society. We consulted with experts holding differing stands to educate ourselves on the complexities of the problems. Then painfully, one by one, we assembled volunteers from all walks of life who believed in our vision of creating a prosperous Nepal within our lifetime. We used technologies like the internet to bridge distances and collaboration gaps.

We looked outside. We researched 18th century constitutions like that of the USA. We studied 20th century constitutions like those of South Africa and Switzerland. We analyzed those that didn’t have one, like the UK. We evaluated those of emerging economies in South America and Africa as well as our immediate neighbors in the north and south. We found how they were succeeding but also had painfully learnt their lessons and how they found solutions. We also learnt Nepal with its diversity and geo-political location needs to find its own path and cannot blindly follow the paths of other nations.

In 2013, we literally walked for months, collecting dreams of thousands of Nepali people from all fourteen zones of Nepal. We continued studying the differences inside the Constituent Assembly over the last 6 years. We finally came together to draft a constitution that was simple for an ordinary Nepali to understand, and mature to become the law of our land.

What is amazing is – not a single paisa has been paid to the hundreds of reviewers and contributors involved!

Our constitution building process continues. We have published our first draft. We will incorporate more citizen concerns and aspirations so all Nepali will unite to own this constitution. After all, this is a constitution built from the dreams of all Nepali we have interacted with over the last few years.

We hope that our published constitution will be owned by Nepali citizens and by the constituent Assembly of Nepal. We hope more Nepali will improve it and tell their constituent assembly members what they want.

We have in our constitution tried hard to find a middle ground to address the great divide inside the constituent assembly and outside specially on the issues of federalism, identity, style of governance and election systems. We hope this will inspire even the Constituent Assembly members to find answers to their differences and learn from our proposed models. We have taken a middle path to building this pragmatic constitution that works for now and for our important future. We hope this will bridge the gaps between us Nepali people and unite all Nepali who believe in common sense.

Nepal’s Constitution should be of the people, for the people and by the people.

It is time Nepali people have an option to choose.

To read the Nepal Constitution BibekSheel Nepali has proposed, please go here: www.leadnepal.com/nepalconstitution

 

Warm Regards,
Ujwal Thapa
Chairperson,
BibekSheel Nepali.

 

 

Federal Republic of Nepal
Federal Republic of Nepal
English version of Nepal government structure in bibeksheel constitution
Nepal government structure

 

How is  the legislature elected in Nepal ?
How is the legislature elected in Nepal ?

 

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