CC poses 16 key queries to top leaders

KATHMANDU, Mar 9: The Constitutional Committee (CC) of the Constituent Assembly (CA) has categorically set forth a list of 16 issues before senior party leaders.



The CC, which is entrusted with working out an integrated draft report that incorporates all the 11 preliminary drafts, has clearly said that the committee can´t take its work ahead without resolving these contentious issues. [break]



"We need solution for these questions which remain unanswered so far. That is the basic precondition for starting our work," CC Chairman Nilambar Acharya said at the meeting Tuesday while tabling the agenda for discussion. The answers were sought at the CC meeting attended by parliamentary party leaders from all 25 political parties in the CA.



The CC called a ´special meeting´ after it couldn´t take its work forward due to the time limit and differences among political parties.



The issues to be settled include whether to adopt the theory of constitutionalism, the principle of pluralism and the theories of separation of powers and checks and balance.



"What will be the system of governance? How will the cabinet be formed? Who will be the chairman of the cabinet: president or prime minister? Will the head of state be ceremonial or not? Will there be posts for both a president as well as a prime minister?" reads the list of questions.



Likewise, the CC has demanded answers to questions concerning election systems for the president, the prime minister and the federal legislature, the final authority for interpreting the constitution, the body to appoint and sack justices, the appointment process for the chief justice, the number of states in the federal system and the delineation process for the provinces.



Senior leaders including Prime Minister Madhav Kumar Nepal, Maoist Chairman Pushpa Kamal Dahal and CPN-UML Chairman Jhala Nath Khanal attended the meeting. The parliamentary party leaders of 22 political parties are members of the 63-member committee.



At Tuesday´s meeting, Acharya also invited three parliamentary party leaders from other political parties -- Nepal Workers Peasants Party, CPN (United) and Sadbhavana Party -- who are not members of the committee.



Acharya has said that the committee could not work as effectively as expected due to very low attendance by top leaders from the major political parties.

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