After the task force formed by the government to prepare a debate paper on the constitutional amendment put forward 54 proposals in 8 points, major political parties are engaged in internal preparations. From the ruling party to the opposition, discussions on the amendment have intensified according to their respective political agendas.

The NCP has brought the constitution amendment proposal with a directly elected chief executive and a fully proportional electoral system to the final stage. The Congress has stated that it is preparing an amendment proposal to further strengthen the parliamentary system based on the four pillars of the constitution: republic, democracy, federalism, and inclusiveness.

UML has also formed a task force under the coordination of Vice President Bishnu Poudel and started discussions on the amendment.

The National Independent Party (RIP) has suggested preparing a debate paper based on the pledges of the last election. The leaders say that the government has put forward the proposal accordingly. The government-led Rashtriya Swatantra Party has mentioned in its election manifesto that there will be no directly elected executive, no fully proportional parliament, no MP ministers, no non-partisan local government, and an improved provincial structure as the minimum concepts to be submitted for initial discussion by the National Independent Party.

Rashtriya Swatantra Party treasurer and MP Lima Adhikari said that work is underway on amending the constitution as per the party manifesto. 'The issue of amending the constitution remains as per the promise made by the Rashtriya Swatantra Party in the election. There has been no official discussion on it recently,' she said. 'The task force formed by the government is also discussing preparing a constitution amendment debate paper.'

People within the Rashtriya Swatantra Party have started arguing that a directly elected executive is not necessary since they have won about two-thirds of the votes through this electoral system. Another official said that even if the NCP has a two-thirds majority in the government, it cannot forget the pledge.

The government had formed a task force on Chaitra 16 under the coordination of the Prime Minister's political advisor Asim Shah. In the task force, the NCP had said that it would prepare a 'discussion paper' on the proposals for amending the constitution within three months of forming the government in order to establish a national consensus.

The NCP has put forward a proposal for a directly elected executive and full proportional representation in the country, said Khimlal Devkota, a member of the task force. 'The NCP has put forward a proposal for a directly elected executive chief,' he said. The then Maoists had been arguing for a directly elected executive since 2064. Although there is currently a mixed proportional electoral system, the NCP has concluded that it is more expensive.

'Since the electoral system is costly, we have proposed a fully proportional electoral system,' he said, 'the draft prepared by the task force will be finalized by the party's high political level.'

The NCP has proposed amending the constitution and limiting the number of ministries to 15. The Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) has proposed to create 15 ministries. Currently, there are 17 federal ministries.

Devkota informed that the NCP has proposed that the number of ministries in the 7 provinces should be a maximum of 5. The NCP has stated that the number of provincial MPs should be halved. 'The number of MPs should be reduced to 275 like in the federal parliament,' Devkota said. Currently, there is a provision for one MP from each constituency and two from each province in the House of Representatives. Accordingly, there are 550 MPs in 7 provinces.

The NCP has proposed to re-appoint judges through competition to restructure the judiciary. This proposal is in line with the proposal of the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS).

The RSSS has stated in its pledge that the process of appointing judges to be based on competition will be eliminated from party influence. 

‘The constitution should be amended based on the four pillars of the constitution: republic, democracy, federalism and inclusiveness,’ he said. ‘The constitution can be enriched by strengthening the parliamentary system.’ He said that the proposal will be prepared in a way that connects the provisions in the constitution with the common people.

The Congress has said that there can be no compromise on the democracy adopted by the constitution, the characteristics of the Nepali state, republic, federalism, citizen supremacy, multi-ethnic, multi-religious, multicultural and pluralistic multi-party parliamentary system, separation of powers, and an independent judiciary. Similarly, it is in favor of amending the constitution without any compromise or narrowing on essential values ​​and norms including freedom of expression and press, rule of law, proportional inclusive principle, open society and human rights.

While preparing the debate paper on the constitution amendment, the Congress has also proposed that the government should be clear about the identity of parties outside the parliament and stakeholders such as Madhesi, indigenous-tribal, Tharu, Dalit and minorities.

UML task force member Mahesh Bartaula said that even though UML has agreed in principle to review and amend the constitution, an additional task force will be formed to prepare a proposal. ‘It was agreed to amend the constitution when the Congress-UML coalition government was formed.’ At that time, that process could not move forward, he said, ‘Now that the government task force has asked for a proposal for amending the constitution, the party will prepare a proposal.’

The UML central secretariat meeting held on Saturday had formed a task force under the coordination of Vice President Bishnu Poudele. UML had sent Bhishma Adhikari, Chief Secretary of the Central Office, to the discussion called by the government task force.

The Congress has formed a separate task force of constitutional experts under the leadership of senior advocate Pushpa Bhusal. The NCP has formed a task force under the coordination of leader Dev Gurung and discussed the constitution amendment proposal.

The task force formed by the government is discussing issues including a directly elected executive president, a system where MPs are not ministers, appointment of expert ministers, voting rights for Nepalis living abroad, and reappointment of judges. The proposals focus on the form of government, electoral system, federalism, provincial structure, local levels, judiciary, constitutional bodies, and various other issues.