In the voting, a majority of the agenda items supported by the largest party UCPN (Maoist) were defeated by the alliance of the Nepali Congress and CPN-UML among other political parties.
- Proposal to change national flag in minority
- No provision of national emblems
- Koirala, Dahal, Khanal agree to abstain in voting
- People´s war in minority, Madhes movement in majority
- Name of new constitution: Constitution of Nepal-2067
- Press freedom and plurality unchangeable
The Maoist proposal to change the national flag failed as it could not garner majority support in the committee. But the vote against the proposal was in minority also. The Maoist proposal to change the national flag got 27 votes from the 58 members present in the committee while 24 votes were cast against. The NC, UML and Madhesi People´s Rights Forum (Democratic) were in favor of giving continuity to the present flag.
The number of members present and voting in the 64-member committee was 58 as the heads of the UCPN (Maoist), NC (NC) and CPN-UML -- Pushpa Kamal Dahal, Girija Prasad Koirala and Jhala Nath Khanal respectively -- agreed to abstain in the voting. Suprabha Ghimire of NC is abroad while another member, Ek Nath Dhakal, could not cast his vote as he has already used his ballot in another thematic committee. And the chairman of the committee can use his vote only in case two sides get an equal number of votes.
The proposal to change the color of the present flag proposed by Madhes-based political parties was also defeated.
The committee meeting that ran for around seven hours has decided not to put forth any provision concerning national emblems. According to the present constitution, the cow is the national animal, lophophorus the national bird, rhododendron national flag and crimson the national color.
Out the 10 options, the name "The Constitution of Nepal-2010" for the new constitution got a majority of votes. Thirty-one members from NC, UML, Tarai-Madhes Democratic Party (TMDP) and MPRF (D), among others, stood in favor of the name while 22 members, including Maoists, voted against and one member remained neutral. The Maoists proposed ´The Constitution of the People´s Federal Republic Nepal-2010´ as the name of the new constitution.
The provision that made it mandatory to appoint ambassadors and special envoys of the country on the basis of the principle of proportional inclusiveness, received a majority. Thirty-two members from the UCPN (Maoist), MPRF, MPRF(D) and TMDP, among others, voted in favor of the provision.
The Maoist proposal to put the words "people´s war" in the preamble was in a minority while the proposal to incorporate the words ´Madhes movement´ received a majority of votes.
The proposal on press freedom and pluralism as unchangeable provisions was voted with a majority while the proposal to put in federalism, preference for indigenous communities, secularism and inclusiveness as unchangeable provisions received a minority vote.
Likewise, the word ´pluralism´ which was proposed by the NC and UML among other parties, was voted by a majority of members while the Maoists voted against.
The CC, which is one of the 11 thematic committees of the Constituent Assembly, will prepare a preliminary draft report and concept paper for the new constitution and submit it to the CA for discussion. The full CA has to endorse the provisions by majority votes before incorporating them in the constitution. The other eight thematic committees have already submitted their preliminary draft reports to the CA.
thira@myrepublica.com
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