The party´s all powerful body central committee (CC) came up with the conclusion after 15 rounds of meetings. "The CC has suggested that a state restructuring commission be formed for the purpose as mentioned in the interim constitution and the body be entrusted with fixing the number of provinces, their demarcation, naming and distribution of power," the party said in a statement on Saturday. [break]
It said the country be restructured on the basis of ´identity´ and ´economic viability´.
When asked about the possibility of forming the commission and completing the task of statute writing in the remaining 75 days, party chairman Jhala Nath Khanal claimed that it was possible.
"We have already submitted a restructuring model. The CA thematic committee has prepared a model and following that intensive discussions have taken place across the country. So we have laid groundwork for the commission to do the task," he said.
By proposing a commission that should come with an independent decision acceptable for all the parties, the UML has indicated flexibility in its stance on state restructuring, the most contentious issue in constitution-writing.
The party had earlier proposed a 15-province model to the CA committee on state restructuring. The model proposes seven states on the basis of the ethnic identity. UML CA members had also voted in favor of the 14-province model prepared by the CA committee when it held voting on the agenda.
The UML is the second among the major political parties to officially propose the commission. The Nepali Congress (NC) has been rooting for such a commission for a couple of months.
The UML has also shown flexibility on the system of governance, the other crucial agenda in the statute-drafting process.
"While fundamentally accepting the concept of directly elected prime minister and ceremonial president, the UML has decided to be flexible on forging a national consensus on the matter," it said.
The UML leaders both in the CA and in its central committee were sharply divided over the model of prime ministerial system. Most of the members close to chairman Khanal are for directly elected executive prime minister while other members loyal to KP Sharma Oli have lobbied for parliament-elect executive prime ministerial system.
Ansari´s recall disciplinary action
Terming the resignation of former State Minister for Home Affairs Mohammad Rizwan Ansari as a sad chapter, Khanal said the party recalled him on disciplinary grounds. "His remark in media were against the party discipline. Therefore we recalled him," Khanal said.
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