Nepal’s government on Sunday tabled the controversial bill to amend the constitution, despite opposition protests. With the bill presented before Parliament, the opposition, which had been disrupting House proceedings for more than a month, has allowed the legislature to resume its business.

Here we present a step-by-step guide to amending the constitution:

1.

According to Parliament Secretariat Spokesperson Bharat Raj Gautam, his office will publish a notice on Tuesday’s edition of Gorkhapatra, the state-run Nepali language newspaper, saying that the government has tabled a bill to amend the constitution. According to Article 274 (3) of the constitution, Parliament needs to publish a notice within 30 days after an amendment bill has been registered in the House.

2.

The amendment bill presented by the government proposes that hill districts be removed from Province 5. However, the main opposition and other parties outside the government say Article 274 (4) says provincial assemblies’ consent is required for any alteration to the  provincial boundaries.

The government, however, asserts that in the absence of provincial assemblies, Parliament’s authority is supreme, and it can amend the constitution the way it wants to. The government could even resort to a presidential decree to remove ‘constitutional hurdles’ to put the amendment through a vote.

3.

Then MPs will be allowed to speak on the bill and present their views in Parliament, said Spokesperson Gautam. According to Gautam, each MP will be given three minutes to air their views. However, the UML is unlikely to take part in the process. If the opposition resorts to sloganeering, the Speaker will call on one of the ministers to address the opposition.

4.

After all of the MPs who want to speak get the opportunity to do so, the Speaker will give the MPs 72 hours to file their amendments to the bill. When amendments have been registered, Parliament will then decide whether to send it to the committee concerned or to discuss it in the House. If it decides not to send to the committee, it will be easier for the government to take the bill for a vote.

5.

The House will then decide whether any of the amendments are to be accepted or MPs are to be allowed to vote on the bill without any amendment. This bill, unlike others, cannot be passed without a ballot. The UML is likely to abstain from voting, as it knows that some of its MPs could cross the floor to vote in favour of the bill.

Many analysts believe that it will take at least a month for the process to complete, but if the Speaker and the government put in effort, it is likely to be up for voting within 10 days.