Leaders mull CJ-led govt prior to SC verdict

KATHMANDU, March 4: Leaders from four major political parties have decided to move ahead with appointment of chief justice as the prime minister even before the Supreme Court´s scheduled hearing on the issue.



Though the court is scheduled to conduct a hearing on the case on March 7, leaders from the major political parties said they plan to appoint chief justice as the prime minister within the next couple of days.[break]



Chairman of Tarai Madhes-Democratic Party (TMDP) Mahantha Thakur said that if everything goes as planned during the talks on Sunday, initiatives to remove constitutional difficulties in forming the government and holding elections, among other related issues, will be taken on Tuesday.



“And, then we will appoint the chief justice as the prime minister 24 hours after we take steps toward removing constitutional difficulties,” Thakur told reporters while emerging from the interparty talks held at the prime minister´s official residence in Baluwatar.



However, leaders from NC and CPN-UML are insisting that all the tasks, including amending the constitutional provision on government formation, removing constitutional difficulties through the president´s order and appointing chief justice as prime minister should be carried out simultaneously.



“They [NC and UML leaders] are for doing carrying out all these tasks simultaneously and we are still holding talks on the matter,” said Thakur.



NC and UML leaders want to carry out these tasks simultaneously fearing that the present government might prolong its stay in power if the plan to form CJ-led government is foiled after the constitutional difficulties are removed.



The leaders plan to appoint the chief justice as prime minister even as they still have serious differences over certain provisions on formation of Truth and Reconciliation Commission (TRC), criteria for voters´ list and rank and position of former Maoist combatants in the Nepal Army.



Thakur said that they discussed issues relating to TRC´s provisions, citizenship and voters´ list, among other things, but they couldn´t reach any conclusion and decided to continue the talks on Monday.



A major bone of contention among the major political parties is provisions on TRC bill, which has already been forwarded to the president´s office but the head of state has shelved it for months asking the government to forge consensus on the matter.



Opposition parties, including NC and UML, have strongly objected to the provision on general amnesty proposed in the TRC bill. While UCPN (Maoist) is pushing for inclusion of the provision on general amnesty, opposition parties have been arguing that general amnesty for those involved in the heinous crimes during the conflict wouldn´t be acceptable.



Sources privy to the talks said NC leaders, mainly former Prime Minister Sher Bahadur Deuba, who also headed government during the insurgency period, have lately expressed flexibility on the provision regarding general amnesty. But CPN-UML leaders are strongly objecting to the proposal.



“It is our firm stance that while drafting laws we must ensure that those involved in serious human rights violations are held accountable and the victims get justice,” CPN-UML leader Agni Kharel, who is involved in the talks, told Republica. “We are not ready for any compromise on that.”



He also informed that they are for amending the article related to government formation in the interim constitution by allowing not only the chief justice but also former chief justice or any other candidate who is not member of the parliament to contest for the prime minister´s post. “We want to allow other candidates to contest for the post so as to avoid possible constitutional complication in future in case the CJ-led government fails to hold elections or the government ceases to exist for any reason,” said Kharel.



Also, the ruling Maoist leaders want to reach a deal on determining the rank of former Maoist combatants in the national army, but the NC and UML leaders have been arguing that it should be done either in accordance with NA standards or should be decided by the cross-party special committee, which is mandated to oversee the issue of army integration.

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