As per the newly amended calendar, the CA should complete deliberations on the preliminary drafts and concept papers prepared by the thematic committees by September 6.
Of the 11 CA committees, only five committees have submitted their reports so far, while the rest have been hobbled by serious differences among the major political parties -- UCPN (Maoist), Nepali Congress (NC) and the CPN-UML.
As the CA calendar has allocated a week for deliberations on each committee´s reports, it will take 42 days for CA to complete deliberation on reports submitted by the rest six committees. “Now it is sure that we will miss the September 6 deadline and the calendar has to be amended once again,” said Thakur Baral, secretary of the CA Committee on state restructuring and national power distribution.
CA chairman Subas Nemang, however, said he is yet to decide on whether to change the calendar or look for other options.
The CA has already amended the calendar for the sixth time as political differences have marred the whole constitution writing process.
“There is little possibility that the CA committees will finish their tasks immediately,” says a CA official who doesn´t want to be named.
The CA committee to determine the system of governance has been marred by serious differences. The Maoists have decided to go for presidential system, the Nepali Congress for West Ministerial and the UML for direct election of the prime minister.
Similarly, the committee on state restructuring and distribution of power is yet to decide the number, names and delineation of provinces, while the committee to distribute the natural resources, economic rights and revenue sharing is yet to settle the issue of land reforms model, among other things. So is the condition of the committee on fundamental rights, in which parties are divided over the issue of naturalized citizenship, while the committee to determine the form of judicial system has faced serious differences due to the issue of reappointment of judges, among other things. “I don´t think the constitution writing process will move ahead in a smooth manner unless there is political consensus at the higher level,” says the official.
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