CA yet to get full shape though statute promulgation date nears

KATHMANDU, Aug 15: Even as political parties are set to promulgate the new statute within a few weeks, the government has yet to give full shape to the Constituent Assembly (CA).

The 601-member CA has only 598 lawmakers following the death of senior leader of Rastriya Prajatantra Party (RPP) Surya Bahadur Thapa on April 15. Two other CA seats allocated to fringe parties were never filled.Of the 26 seats to be filled on recommendation of the cabinet, the government has yet to appoint the remaining two lawmakers due to row over seat-sharing among fringe political parties represented in the CA. Major political parties agreed to give 10 seats to Nepali Congress (NC), nine to CPN-UML, four to UCPN (Maoist), one to RPP-N and the remaining two to fringe political parties in the CA.

Expressing ire over the seat-sharing arrangement, Madhes-based political parties had snubbed government's call to recommend candidates for the remaining two CA seats.

Article 63 of the interim constitution states that 601-member CA will comprise 240 members elected under the first-past-the-post electoral system and 335 others elected under proportional representation electoral system. The interim constitution has a provision of appointing 26 members on the recommendation of the cabinet.

Asked about preparations for giving full shape to the CA, government spokesperson and Minister for Information and Communications Minendra Rijal said government is planning to fill the vacant posts of lawmakers before the final draft of the new constitution is ready.

"The government is planning to appoint the remaining two lawmakers before the final draft of the constitution is ready. We intend to give it a full shape before the new statute is promulgated," Rijal told Republica.

Even four months after the demise of RPP lawmaker Surya Bahdur Thapa, the RPP has not held any consultation within the party over a new CA member to replace him so far, said a leader. "Some leaders vying for the post of lawmaker have been pressing the party leaders to recommend names for the vacant posts, but our party has yet to hold any meeting on this issue," said party joint-general secretary Bikram Pandey.

The government had started appointing lawmakers for the 26 seats to be filled on the recommendation of the cabinet only after Supreme Court issued an order on May 12 last year to fill the vacant seats within 15 days.

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