NepalThe Royal Constitution of 1959
King Birendra
Courtesy Bir Bikram Shah Dev
Queen Aishwarya Rajya Laxmi Devi Rana
Courtesy Royal Nepalese Embassy
The most significant aspect of the constitution of 1959
was
that it was granted by the king rather than drawn up by
elected
representatives of the people as had been specified in the
1951
constitution. Although the constitution formally brought
into being
a democratically elected parliamentary system under a
constitutional monarchy, the king retained ultimate
sovereignty,
even though the document itself did not explicitly grant
this
power.
The 1959 constitution, modeled on British and Indian
constitutional custom, vested executive power in the king,
who was
advised and assisted by a Council of State (Raj Sabha) and
a
Council of Ministers (cabinet). The Council of State,
which
consisted of officers of Parliament, ministers ex officio,
former
ministers, and royal appointees, advised the monarch on
legislation
and handled the details of regency and succession in the
event of
his death or disability. The general direction and control
of the
government were entrusted to the Council of Ministers,
headed by a
prime minister required to command a majority in the lower
house of
Parliament, to which the council was collectively
responsible.
The king was an integral part of the legislative arm of
the
government. Parliament was defined as consisting of the
king; the
House of Representatives, composed of 109 popularly
elected
members; and the Senate, composed of 36 members of whom
half were
elected by the house and half were nominated by the king.
All bills
approved by the two houses required the assent of the king
to
become law. The constitution granted the king wide
latitude to
nullify the parliamentary system. The king could suspend
the
operation of the cabinet and perform its functions himself
if he
determined that no person could command a majority in the
house as
prime minister. In the event of a breakdown of the
parliamentary
system or of any one of a number of emergency conditions,
the king
could suspend either or both houses of Parliament, assume
their
powers, and suspend the constitution in whole or part. In
December
1960, King Mahendra invoked these emergency powers to
dissolve the
Nepali Congress Party government. The constitutional
system that
had prevailed before 1959 was then returned to operation
(see The Democratic Experiment
, ch. 1).
Data as of September 1991
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