CA committee holding elections on system of governance

KATHMANDU, Dec 1: After a failed effort for a consensus among the major parties the Constituent Assembly (CA) committee on system of governance is holding elections on Tuesday to determine the future system of governance and electoral system in the country.



The CA committee could not agree on a particular system of governance as the major political parties -- UCPN (Maoist), Nepali Congress (NC) and CPN-UML -- stuck to their own models. "We are opting for an election to determine a system of governance as we have failed to reach consensus despite our efforts," said committee chairman Sambhu Hajara Dusad. [break]




Now that the election is a certainty, NC and UML are jointly working to forge alliance with fringe parties to get their model of governance and electoral system endorsed in the voting.



Nepali Congress and UML, which have eight votes each, are trying to woo votes from MPRF (Democratic), Tarai- Madhes Democratic Party (TMDP), CPN (ML), Sadbhavana Party and Sadvabhana Party (Anandidevi) against the UCPN (Maoist), which has 18 votes -- the largest in the 43-member committee.



MPRF (Democratic) has three votes, TMDP three and CPN (ML), Sadbhavana, RPP and Sadbhavana Anandidevi have one each. Rastriya Prajatantra Party (RPP)´s only CA member Allauddin Ansari is currently on a Hajj pilgrimage.



The NC and UML leaders say they could reach an agreement by Tuesday morning before the elections.



The Maoists have proposed direct election of the executive president, Nepali Congress is for indirect election of executive prime minister and ceremonial president and UML is for direct election of executive prime minister and indirect election of ceremonial president.



According to an NC leader, UML may accept the NC´s proposal for indirect election of executive prime minister on the condition that there will be some provisions to ensure government stability. "We can accept indirect election of executive prime minister if NC is ready to go for provisions restricting the parliament from bringing no confidence motion against the prime minister in the first two years of his/her election," said a UML leader preferring anonymity.



The NC has agreed with the UML proposal.



The NC and UML leaders claimed that the Tarai-based and fringe parties will also vote in their favor.



The NC and UML are trying to convince each other on their respective electoral system. Nepali Congress is for mixed proportional electoral system, while the UML is for multi-member proportional representative (MMP) electoral system.



The UML leader expressed hope that the NC will support the UML´s electoral proposal. "The NC should support our proposal if we are to support the NC´s system of governance," said the UML leader.



The Maoists have said they may also form alliances with fringe parties though the Maoist party has not taken any intiative to this end till late Monday night. "Let´s see the situation tomorrw and we will decide," said Maoist leader Girirajmani Pokharel.



The Maoists have proposed direct election of the executive president and unicameral legislature, the members of which would be elected from multi-member constituencies on proportional basis. The executive president will form a cabinet on the basis of "consensus", incorporating parliamentarians representing diverse sections of society.



What is on cards?



Maoists: Direct election of executive president, cabinet formation based on consensus, multi-member constituency, and unicameral legislature



NC: Indirect election of executive prime minister and ceremonial president, bicameral legislature, mixed proportional



UML: Direct election of executive prime minister, indirect election of ceremonial president, bicameral legislature, mixed member proportional representative (MMPR) electoral system

Related story

Revised interest rate corridor system introduced