The process of working out a new political system for Nepal, following the historic Jan Andolan of April 2006, is advancing steadily. Major developments in the past one month include: the promulgation of the new Interim Constitution-2063 on December 16, 2006 by the Nepal Parliament followed by the self-dissolution of the old House of Representatives and National Assembly; the convening of the new interim parliament on January 15, with the Maoists as the second largest political group with 86 members; and the beginning of the process of “arms management”, under which the UN supervises the disarmament of the Maoist forces who will deposit their arms in specified “containers”. An interim government with participation of all the eight parties who are part of the alliance, including the Maoists, and headed by Nepali Congress leader G.P.Koirala, is also expected to be established shortly.

These developments in Nepal are being watched with great interest throughout the world. In the words of the Maoist leader in the new parliament, Krishna Bahadur Mahara, the Interim Constitution should be viewed only as a “political agreement” among the eight parties, the main purpose of which is to facilitate the elections to the Constituent Assembly by early June. The elected Constituent Assembly in turn would draft the new constitution for the Nepali people. To pave the way for the election of the Constituent Assembly, the old legislature and the old Constitution of 1990, both of which derived their legitimacy from the monarchy, needed to be abolished. While the monarchy has not yet been formally abolished, it has been made irrelevant to the current political developments, including the working out of a new political system. The Interim Constitution-2063 promises that the fate of the monarchy will be decided by the first sitting of the Constituent Assembly.

The Interim Constitution declares that sovereignty and ruling power rests with the people. Among other things, there is provision for a referendum on any issue of national importance. Although there are great expectations from this important document, criticisms have also been voiced about many provisions of the interim constitution. Many amendments to the draft interim constitution were proposed, although it was finally adopted unanimously without amendment. One of the strong objections voiced to the interim constitution outside of Parliament was from people belonging to minority ethnic groups and tribal peoples who felt that it did not deal with their needs and interests. Both the Indian and the Chinese governments have welcomed the new Interim Constitution, as have the governments of the UK and the US, even though the American spokesman at the same time expressed reservations about the intentions of the Maoists.

The working class and people of India, as indeed of the whole world, will be watching with great sympathy and expectations to see to what extent the people of Nepal are able to stamp their imprint on the processes now underway – that is, on the process of electing their representatives to the Constituent Assembly, and afterwards, on the work of the Constituent Assembly to produce a new constitution that embodies all their aspirations. It is the ordinary men and women of Nepal who won the respect and admiration of the whole world through the courage and determination with which they fought the monarchy. It is their pressure that is ensuring that no political force inside or outside of Nepal has so far been able to stop the process of creating a new political system. The promulgation of the Interim Constitution is a victory for them in the sense that it enshrines in law the divesting of the powers of the feudal monarchy that had sought to drown the struggles of the people in blood. However, the powers that have been removed from the king have now been vested in the Council of Ministers headed by the Prime Minister. The crucial step of the transfer of power from the Executive to the people themselves has yet to take place, and will have to be fought for. The victory of the Nepali people must now be crowned with a political system that ensures that they are able to actually exercise and defend their own sovereign powers. That would indeed be a historic victory not only for the people of Nepal but for the people of the whole world.

Various powers, including the Indian state and the Anglo-American imperialists, are trying their best to impose their own models of “democracy” on Nepal. They constantly proclaim that their models are the only forms of “democracy”, and any country that does not conform to those models are termed outcasts or pariahs. However, history has shown that their political systems, which while swearing by “the sovereignty of the people” have in fact vested supreme powers in the executive, have not brought freedom or power to the masses of people. On the contrary, they have marginalised the role of the people in politics and served as a thin shell for the rule of exploiting classes. The people of Nepal should not come under the pressure to conform to any particular existing model of “democracy”, but should be their own models. A great and historic opportunity awaits them to ensure real freedom from all forms of oppression, to ensure lasting independence and unity, and all-round progress for the hitherto exploited and downtrodden majority.