Nepal’s Maoists have made public a draft Constitution for the country which entails a head-of-state directly elected by the people with all the executive powers vested in the President.
On May 29, the day Nepal marked its second Republic Day, the Maoists published their draft Constitution. As per the Constitution, President will be directly elected by the people and all executive powers will be vested upon him. The President will be head of the state, executive head and supreme commander–in-chief of the Army staff, senior Maoist leader Nara Bahadur Karmachaya said.
The Constitution also has a provision for compulsory military training for all able bodied Nepalese above 18 years of age. The Maoists had planned to announce a Constitution amid the deadlock with the government over the promulgation of a new Constitution for the country. The draft Constitution has a provision for a federal structure with 12 autonomous states, 10 in the hilly region and 2 in the Madhesi region in the Terai plains bordering India. As per the constitutional provision political parties can be set up for multi-party competition, according the Maoist sources.
In envisages three tier judiciary with the Supreme Court at the top and regional and local courts at the lower level.
Top Maoist leader and party’s vice chairman Baburam Bhattarai blamed the ruling alliance for the delay in drafting the statute on time as tasked by the 2006 peace agreement between the former rebels and the interim government led by G.P. Koirala.