|
NepalThe Interim Constitution, 1951
The revolution of 1950-51 resulted in the overthrow of
the Rana
system
(see
The Growth of Political Parties;
The Return of the King
, ch. 1). In
1951 King Tribhuvan Bir Bikram Shah
announced by
royal proclamation an interim government and an interim
constitution until a new Constituent Assembly could be
elected. The
interim constitution, based on principles in India's
constitution
and entitled the Interim Government of Nepal Act, 1951,
ratified
the end of the authority of the prime minister and the
system
surrounding that office. It also reasserted the king's
supreme
executive, legislative, and judicial powers. The king
exercised his
executive authority through, and was aided and advised by,
a
Council of Ministers, which he appointed and which served
at his
pleasure.
The king also appointed an Advising Assembly to sit
until the
Constituent Assembly was elected. The king retained
sovereign and
plenary legislative powers. The Advising Assembly was,
with certain
exceptions, authorized only to discuss matters and to
recommend
measures to the king for enactment into law. The final
authority to
approve any legislative measure lay with the king. The
constitution
also established a Supreme Court, made the king supreme
commander
of the armed forces, reiterated and enlarged upon the
fundamental
rights included in the Rana constitution, and proclaimed
numerous
social and economic objectives of the government. These
objectives
were to promote the welfare of the people by securing a
social
order in which social, economic, and political justice
pervaded all
the institutions of national life. King Mahendra (reigned
1955-72)
vigorously sought to broaden the monarch's political base,
but the
Nepali National Congress succeeded in gaining some
democratic
reforms. Although the constitution was expected to be
temporary
pending the election of a Constituent Assembly and the
preparation
of a permanent organic law, King Mahendra was unable to
resist the
increasingly well-orchestrated political demands by the
Nepali
National Congress for a more democratic and representative
government, and was forced to promulgate a new
constitution.
Data as of September 1991
|
