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CC seeks deadline extension till Jan 29

KATHMANDU, JAN 04 -
The Constitutional Committee (CC) has agreed to reset the deadline to resolve disputes, which were supposed to be settled by Wednesday.

The CC recommendation, yet to be endorsed by the Constituent Assembly, sets January 29 as the new limit to forge consensus on contentious constitutional issues apart from state restructuring. The CA was supposed to start voting on Thursday if there was no agreement between parties to revise the schedule endorsed by it last month.

The main opposition, Nepali Congress, had proposed revision to the calendar arguing that the new constitution cannot be promulgated by deciding contentious through majority votes.

Top leaders from the UCPN (Maoist) and the CPN-UML supported NC’s proposal to buy time during a three party talks held ahead of the Wednesday’s CC meeting.

Maoist Chairman Pushpa Kamal Dahal, NC Parliamentary Party leader Ram Chandra Poudel and CPN-UML leader Madhav Kumar Nepal jointly appealed to lawmakers to support the extension during the CC meeting. They also reaffirmed their commitment to concluding the peace and constitution drafting process by the May 28 deadline.

“We have agreed to make adjustments in the calendar to forge consensus on outstanding issues. The revision will not deviate us from promulgating the constitution by May 28,” Maoist Chairman Dahal told reporters after the two-hour meeting. NC leader Poudel and UML leader Nepal said serious discussion on constitution writing had started and it would yield results within the January 29 deadline.

“We concentrated on the peace process all these years and could not devote our time to discuss constitutional issues,” said UML leader Nepal. “We will not miss the final deadline because there is now an agreement to conclude the peace process.”

The CC is yet to endorse agreements made by the Dispute Resolution Subcommittee on 61 issues. Poudel claimed the parties would reach an agreement on provisions regarding the executive, judiciary and legislative to be enshrined in the new constitution within the January 29 deadline.

At the meeting, Prime Minister Baburam Bhattarai expressed commitment that the government would soon take the peace process to an “irreversible” point.

Fringe party lawmakers registered their reservation about the decision to revise the calendar.  “I cannot cheat the people by saying that the parties will promulgate a constitution by opting for another extension,” said Rastriya Janamorcha lawmaker

Chitra Bahadur KC. “We have serious doubts but we are helpless.”

Posted on: 2012-01-05 07:45

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