KATHMANDU, March 25: The three major political parties have agreed on the jurisdiction of the proposed State Restructuring Commission (SRC).
The parties have set three criteria for the commission´s functioning. The criteria are: Article 138 of the Interim Constitution, the preliminary draft report of the CA committee on state restructuring, and issues raised by CA members during deliberations in the full CA, said UML Chief Whip Bhim Acharya. [break]
The Interim Constitution provision says a high-level commission shall be constituted to make suggestions on restructuring.
The 43-member CA thematic committee in its report recommended a 14-province federal model.
NC is against the model which was passed by a majority of the committee while the Maoists are lobbying in its favor.
The three-party understanding hasn´t been made public as it is yet to be endorsed by other 22 political parties represented in the CA. Earlier, the Maoists wanted the commission to be given jurisdiction only to prepare a federal model based on the CA committee report while NC and UML were for giving the commission autonomy.
The constitution proposed the commission be entrusted with responsibility for deciding the number of federal units, delineation, and naming and defining the jurisdiction of provinces. The previous government had decided to form the commission and appointed Dr Ganesh Bahadur Gurung as its coordinator. But the commission never acquired full shape.
A senior NC member involved in the talks said there are chances of giving continuity to Gurung as no political party has objected to him.
Top NC and UML leaders including PM Madhav Nepal, UML Chairman Jhala Nath Khanal, KP Sharma Oli and NC Acting President Sushil Koirala, Sher Bahadur Deuba and Ram Chandra Poudel discussed the matter on Thursday.
Later, leaders from the two parties also held discussions with Maoist leaders and finalized it.
HLPM meeting on Friday
The leaders also discussed issues of integration and management of Maoist combatants, contents to be incorporated in the new constitution and the peace process. "The issues will be discussed at the High-Level Political Mechanism on Friday," Acharya said.