Taskforce for constitution

The 27 political parties represented in the Constituent Assembly (CA) have shown some seriousness over the delay in resolving differences on contentious issues of the new constitution and have formed a seven-member high-level taskforce to sort out the differences. When parties have been disagreeing on almost anything and failing to reach an agreement on issues of urgency, even this small agreement sounds like heaven-sent. We welcome the formation of the taskforce and hope that it will complete its work within the given deadline of Oct 24. The fact that the top leaders of the major parties are members of the taskforce underscores the importance attached to this task by the political parties and also gives some hope that the taskforce will get things done in time.     



The parties have squandered the past four months since the CA was extended by a year on May 28 midnight, just a few minutes before its life expired. Since then, the CA has met only once and that too just for the rescheduling of the timetable for constitution-drafting. When the CA meets next time, its first agenda will be again to reschedule the timetable. As we spend the extended time for constitution-drafting lavishly,  our differences on constitutional issues—from major to minor ones—persist. The CA’s Preliminary Draft Reports Study Committee has identified and prepared a list of around 225 contentious issues. It will be time-consuming and practically impossible to have a vote on each of these issues in the CA. Since there will have to be an agreement among the major parties on each of these issues before they are finally voted by a two-thirds majority in the CA, the leaders must try to iron out differences now. The fact that out of the 11 thematic reports the CA has so far been able to pass only three just shows the awful lack of progress in the constitution-drafting process. 



The taskforce should use the next 12 days as a window of opportunity and try to reach agreements on as many issues as possible. Since this taskforce has top leaders of the major parties as its members and its deliberations will be facilitated by CA Subas Nembang, we trust that it can take decisions on major issues. The peace process and the constitution-drafting process are intertwined—a progress in one area will provide a major boost for progress in another. However, due to lack of progress in either of these areas, the trust among the major parties is gradually giving in way for mutual suspicion. If the taskforce succeeds in making substantial progress toward resolving major differences of the future constitution, it will also contribute in taking forward the peace process and resolving the current political stalemate.

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