Kathmandu, July 18 -- A government task force formed to prepare a discussion paper on constitutional amendments has submitted a report despite the withdrawal of several major political parties from the process. The report has compiled suggestions to amend 245 of Nepal's constitution's 308 articles, covering issues ranging from the electoral system and judiciary to governance structure and federalism.

The proposals include major changes to the country's political system, including introducing a directly elected executive president, reforming the electoral system, restructuring the judiciary, reducing the number of elected representatives and reviewing the federal structure. Some submissions also called for abolishing federalism altogether...