From left, Nepalese newly-appointed Maoist parliamentarians: Matrika Yadav, Dina Nath Sharma, Dev Gurung, and Krishna Bahadur
Mahara take oath as
Members of Parliament in Kathmandu. (AFP/Devendra Man Singh)
CPN-M Enters Parliament
from A World to Win News Service
dated 15 January 2007
A new interim parliament has been formed in Nepal, with about a
quarter of its members named by the Communist Party of Nepal (Maoist).
On 15 January, the old parliament in the Singha Durbar (House of
Representatives) unanimously voted to adopt an interim constitution and
then automatically dissolved. The first session of the new parliament
convened that evening to swear in the old and new MPs. A second session
scheduled for 17 January is to ratify the interim constitution, which
is to serve as the country’s legal framework until constituent
elections are held in June to decide the future system of government,
including the issue of keeping or getting rid of the monarchy. The
interim constitution makes the prime minister the head of state,
instead of the king, who no longer has even a ceremonial role but
retains his crown. It also removes the declaration in the former
constitution that Nepal is a Hindu state. The new parliament is
expected to choose a new government in February after the disarmament
process is complete, the media reported.
The new single-chamber legislature includes 330 members. All were in
the old parliament dissolved by the king, except for the CPN(M)
delegation. Of the 83 new MPs, 28 are women, 12 are Dalits (formerly
known as “Untouchables”), 22 are from indigenous ethnic groups
(janajatis), and 21 from the terai, the lowlands bordering India, also
long oppressed by the central Nepali state. Krishna Bahudur Mahara
heads the CPN(M) delegation.