Party insiders say that leaders of all three major political parties -- UCPN (Maoist), Nepali Congress and CPN-UML -- have agreed in principle to extend the term of the CA, that expires on May 28, by at least six months. [break]
CPN-UML Chief Whip Bhim Acharya said there is no dispute among the parties over whether or not to extend the CA term as there is no point in aborting the constitution writing process. "The only thing is when to announce the term extension," Acharya told myrepublica.com.
Acharya said the leaders want to create a favorable situation by showing some progress in statute drafting and the peace process, including in army integration.
As part of the ´quiet´ consultations with party leaders to extend the CA term, Nepali Congress Acting President Sushil Koirala on Monday afternoon held consultations with Rastriya Janashakti Party (RJP) Chairman Surya Bahadur Thapa. NC Vice President Ram Chandra Poudel was present at the meeting held at Koirala´s residence.
Koirala had asked Thapa about the possible consequences of extending the CA´s term.
According to a source, Thapa told Koirala that there would be no problem if the CA term was extended through national consensus. “However, term extension would invite disaster if done without forging a national consensus,” the source quoted Thapa as telling Koirala.
On the occasion, Thapa criticized the major political parties including the NC for leaving the people in confusion even though they knew that they were not going to promulgate the constitution within the set deadline.
Talking to media after the meeting, Vice President Poudel disclosed that the NC had begun consultations as there was no guarantee about the new constitution being promulgated by the set deadline, “due to Maoist obstructions” and various issues including army integration and state restructuring. “We are holding consultations as to what can be done if the new constitution is not drafted within the stipulated time,” he said.
While NC Acting President Koirala also held a meeting with UML leader KP Sharma Oli later in the evening at his residence, Vice President Poudel met separately with civil society leaders the same afternoon.
Poudel held consultations with civil society leaders Charan Prasain, Kedar Narsingh KC, Kishor Shakya, Rameshwar Upadhyaya and Dinesh Tripathi during a meting held at the NC Parliamentary Party Office at Singha Durbar.
According to a civil society leader present at the meeting, they advised the parties to forge consensus on the fundamental issues to be incorporated in the new constitution. They maintained that the party leaders must be able to convince the people over the grounds for term extension.
Sources said the parties are also divided whether to extend the CA term by six months or by one year.
Some leaders have pushed for a one-year extension, arguing that six months would be insufficient as the statute drafting process is directly interconnected with state restructuring and the peace process including integration of Maoist combatants into the security agencies. "What I personally think is that extension more than once will be stupidity on the part of the parties," said Acharya.
The constitution drafting process has hit roadblocks over several agenda. Major disputes surfaced among the parties over whether to go for a presidential or a prime ministerial system, over the state restructuring model, the judiciary and the electoral system.
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