NEPAL: CHAIRPERSONS SELECTED FOR CONSTITUENT

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 02 KATHMANDU 000070

SIPDIS

E.O. 12958: DECL: 01/27/2018
TAGS: PREL PGOV PHUM PINR KDEM NP
SUBJECT: NEPAL: CHAIRPERSONS SELECTED FOR CONSTITUENT
ASSEMBLY COMMITTEES

REF: 08 KATHMANDU 1320

Classified By: Ambassador Nancy J. Powell. Reasons 1.4 (b/d).

Summary
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1. (SBU) On January 13, Constituent Assembly (CA) Chairman
Subash Nemwang swore in chairpersons from six parties for the
24 CA committees. Madhav Kumar Nepal, the former General
Secretary of the Communist Party of Nepal - United Marxist
Leninist (UML),was elected head of the Constitutional
Committee, the principal drafting committee. Nepal, who
became a nominated member of the CA on January 10, will
oversee his committee and the 13 other constitutional
committees. Nemwang also swore in the heads of the 10
committees which will conduct CA business in its capacity as
Nepal's Parliament. On January 19, the Parliament went on
recess, reportedly for a month and a half.

Parties Distribute Committee Chairmanships
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2. (SBU) From January 11 - 13, the three largest parties in
the Constituent Assembly (CA) negotiated a power-sharing deal
for the 24 CA committees. The Communist Party of Nepal -
Maoist (now United CPN-M or UCPN-M),the Communist Party of
Nepal - United Marxist Leninist (UML),and the Nepali
Congress (NC) divvied up the committees across six parties:
seven committees for the Maoists, five each for the NC and
UML, three for the Madhesi People's Rights Forum (MPRF),two
for the Terai Madhes Democratic Party (TMDP),and one for the
Rastriya Prajatantra Party (RPP). The parties agreed to
appoint CA Chairman Subash Nemwang (UML) as head of the
special security committee. The minor parties contested the
chairmanships of three committees, including the
Constitutional Committee, but they were unsuccessful. On
January 13 -- four days after the twice-extended deadline
(reftel) -- Nemwang swore in the other 23 committee heads.
One-third of the new chairpersons are women.

The Return of a Familiar Face
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3. (C) M.K. Nepal, former General Secretary of the UML, was
elected to lead the Constitutional Committee, which will
oversee the drafting process. The 10 thematic committees and
three procedural committees will report to him. M.K. Nepal
was nominated to fill a UML vacancy in the CA on January 10,
nine months after his defeat in both constituencies he
contested in the April 2008 CA election. (Note: A
previously nominated UML MP resigned to create the vacancy.
End note.) At a lunch on January 14, the co-president of the
small, center-right Rastriya Janashakti Party, former Finance
Minister Prakash Lohani, informed the Ambassador that he
welcomed the election of M.K. Nepal as the chair of the
Constitutional Committee. Lohani said that M.K. Nepal was a
committed democrat whom Members of Parliament knew and
respected. Other CA Members have likewise commented to
Emboffs that he was a good choice. On January 23, M.K. Nepal
assured the public that the CA would meet its target date of
May 28, 2010 for promulgation of the new constitution.

Committee Chairpersons
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4. (U) The chairpersons of the 14 constitutional committees
and 10 parliamentary committees in the CA are as follow:

Constitutional Committees

-- Constitutional Committee - Mr. Madhav Kumar Nepal (UML)
-- Committee for the Protection of the Rights of Minorities
and Marginalized Communities - Mr. Lalbabu Pandit (UML)
-- Committee on Fundamental Rights and Directive Principles -
Ms. Binda Pandey (UML)
-- Committee for Restructuring the State and Sharing of State
Power - Mr. Lokendra Magar (UCPN-M)
-- Committee for Preserving National Interest - Mr. Amik

KATHMANDU 00000070 002 OF 002


Sherchan (UCPN-M)
-- Committee on Civic Relations - Ms. Mina Pandey (NC)
-- Committee for Determining the Structure of the Legislative
Body - Mr. Ramesh Rijal (NC)
-- Committee for Determining the Basis of Cultural and Social
Solidarity - Ms. Navodita Chaudhary (RPP)
-- Committee for Determining the Structure of Constitutional
Bodies - Mr. Govinda Chaudhary (TMDP)
-- Committee on Judicial System - Mr. Prabhu Sha Teli (UCPN-M)
-- Committee on Natural Resources, Economic Rights and
Sharing of Revenues - Ms. Amrita Thapa Magar (UCPN-M)
-- Committee on Capacity Building and Resource Management -
Mr. Mrigendra Singh Yadav (MPRF)
-- Committee for Determining the Structure of Governance of
the State - Mr. Sambhu Hazara Dusad (NC)
-- Committee for the Coordination and Collection of Public
Opinion - Mr. Pramod Prasad Gupta (MPRF)

Parliamentary Committees

-- International Relations and Human Rights Committee - Mr.
Padam Lal Bishwokarma (UCPN-M)
-- Natural Resources and Means Committee - Ms. Shanta
Chaudhary (UML)
-- Public Accounts Committee - Mr. Ram Krishna Yadav (NC)
-- Public Hearing Special Committee - Mr. Kul Bahadur Gurung
(NC)
-- Women, Children and Social Welfare Committee - Ms. Sandhya
Devi (MPRF)
-- Finance and Labor Relation Committee - Ms. Sushila
Kandangwa (UCPN-M)
-- State Affairs Committee - Mr. Ram Nath Dhakal (UML)
-- Development Committee - Mr. Jeetendra Prasad Sonal (TMDP)
-- Legislature Committee - Ms. Yashoda Subedi Gurung (UCPN-M)
-- Special Security Committee - Mr. Subash Chandra Nemwang
(UML) (Ex-officio)

Parliament on Recess
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5. (SBU) On January 19, the Parliament went on recess. CA
spokesman Mukunda Sharma stated to Emboff on January 23 that
he expected the Parliament to be out for a month and a half,
but the duration is not yet finalized. Concerns are already
being raised by human rights groups that the Government of
Nepal may take advantage of the recess to issue ordinances on
the formation of a Disappearances Commission and a Truth and
Reconciliation Commission, thereby avoiding parliamentary
debate. (Note: Under Nepali law, the Parliament would have
to approve any such ordinances within 60 days of the start of
the new legislative session. End note.)

Comment
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6. (C) It took the Constituent Assembly almost seven months
to form committees and another month to agree on committee
chairs. The CA will have to dramatically increase its
efficiency if it expects to draft and promulgate a
constitution before May 2010. The appointment of former (and
perhaps future) UML chief M.K. Nepal as chairman of the
crucial Constitution Committee brought an established
politician back within the system. According to the Indian
Political Counselor, Prime Minister Dahal may have also hoped
in this way to partially neutralize one of the Maoists'
sharpest critics. Minendra Rijal, a prominent NC MP,
ventured to Emboffs on January 23 that most of the
chairpersons, many of whom are new faces, would not have the
clout within their own parties, let alone within the
601-member CA, to accomplish a great deal. He predicted that
the usual cast of (male) party leaders would end up making
most of the decisions.
POWELL