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NepalThe Referendum of 1980
In May 1979, concerned by the unabated political
demonstrations
and considerable general unrest, King Birendra called for
a
nationwide referendum to determine the future form of
government.
The referendum offered two choices: a continuation of the
partyless
panchayat system, with prospects for further
reform; or a
multiparty system. Although no clear definition of a
multiparty
system was provided, the implication was that it stood for
a
parliamentary system of government run on a party basis.
The
referendum, the first nationwide vote in twenty-two years,
was held
on May 2, 1980, and 67 percent of the eligible voters
participated.
The panchayat system was chosen with a majority of
54.7
percent of the votes. On May 21, 1980, the king appointed
an
eleven-member Constitution Reforms Commission to be
chaired by the
acting chief justice of the Supreme Court
(see The Judiciary
, this
ch.). On December 15, the king promulgated three
constitutional
amendments: direct elections to the Rashtriya Panchayat
would be
held every five years for 112 seats, with 28 additional
seats
filled by the king's personal nomination; the prime
minister would
be elected by the Rashtriya Panchayat; the cabinet would
be
appointed by the king on the recommendation of the prime
minister
and would be accountable to the Rashtriya Panchayat; and
Nepal
would commit to the Nonaligned Movement as a zone of
peace. These
provisions, with a few minor modifications, remained in
operation
until early 1990, when the prodemocracy movement
successfully
agitated for a multiparty democratic system.
Data as of September 1991
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