In a meeting of the Constitutional Committee (CC) of the Constituent Assembly (CA) on Thursday, the Maoists argued that the people should have rights to change any constitutional provision as sovereignty is vested with them. [break]
Nepali Congress (NC), CPN-UML and other political parties have argued that the constitutional provisions like rule of law, human rights, independent judiciary, periodic elections, party-based competitive democracy, and adult franchise should be unchangeable, while the Maoists are against it. The sub-committee formed by the CC has also stated that the constitution should not be amended violating these norms.
“To include unchangeable provisions on the one hand and state that sovereignty vests with the people do not match with each other,” said Maoist deputy leader in the parliament Narayankaji Shrestha. He argued that if such provisions are included in the constitution, they may invite violent conflicts in the country.
“Society is dynamic and many things we have not imagined yet may come into play. So we should have this much farsightedness and should not include such unchangeable provisions in the constitution,” he added.
Shrestha said the constitution make sure that such provisions can be changed through a two-thirds majority in the parliament and a referendum.
But NC and UML leaders argued that the constitution should enshrine certain universal provisions that cannot be changed. “These things are based on the principle of the universal democratic principles, and should not be changed,” said NC CA member Suprabha Ghimire.
Similarly, Agni Kharel of CPN-UML said adopting such provisions will make the constitution rigid to some extent, but they will give stability. “What we need is political stability,” he said. According to a UML leader, the NC and UML will fight hard to adopt unchangeable provisions. “If we fail to adopt unchangeable provisions, the Maoists may go for one-party autocratic system,” he said.
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