E-Kantipur

KATHMANDU, DEC 08 -  

Leaders from the major parties have breached the new calendar of constitution making a day after its endorsement from the parliament. The Dispute Resolution Subcommittee headed by UCPN (Maoist) Chairman Pushpa Kamal Dahal was scheduled to begin its work on resolving the contentious issues of constitution making on Wednesday. 

Instead of convening the meeting slated for Wednesday morning, Dahal, after discussion with senior leaders of Nepali Congress and CPN-UML, postponed the meeting indefinitely. The postponement is likely to hamper the Constitutional Committee's preparations to conduct meetings from Monday to endorse issues agreed upon by the Dahal-led subcommittee. 

"I am deeply disappointed and shocked by the decision to put off the meeting. They should not have done this," said CA Chairman Subas Nembang. "I urge them to immediately call a meeting of the subcommittee and start forging consensus on the intricate issues." 

It troubled officials at the CA Secretariat after Dahal's aide telephoned Tek Prasad Dhungana on Tuesday night and informed about the informal agreement between Dahal, NC leader Ram Chandara Poudel and UML Chairman Jhala Nath Khanal to put off the subcommittee's meeting. Jaya Poudel, section officer working for the subcommittee, rushed to Singhadubar based office at 5:30 am on Wednesday to telephone other leaders about the postponement of the meeting. 

"Such late night decisions are always torturous. It is not easy to telephone 15-16 leaders late night to convey the decision," lamented an official. "We should also have to cancel food orders for over 100 persons including drivers and security personnel deployed to the leaders." 

Frustrated by a similar incident that occurred few months ago, CA Chairman Nembang had asked party leaders not to cancel the meeting of the subcommittee in the last minute. He had also told the leaders to explain to people why there is a lack of progress in constitution making. 

The subcommittee on December 2 had agreed to expedite informal talks to forge consensus on forms of governance and electoral system and decided not to conduct the formal meeting by December 6. Leaders were expected to attend Wednesday's meeting to find a meeting point on the recommendation made by the Laxman Lal Karna-led subcommittee over the contentious issues. 

"The peace process has considerably moved forward in recent days and constitution making deserves leaders' utmost attention," said Nembang. 

Posted on: 2011-12-08 04:29

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