There is a suspicion about whether the tens of thousands of inputs collected from Nepali citizens both within and outside the country will really be used to improve the draft constitution, or if the inputs will be dumped after completing procedural formalities in the CA.While planning the campaign in Singhadurbar, lawmakers and officials at the CA Secretariat were not optimistic about response from the people at the grassroots as villagers were busy in their paddy fields; the monsoon was in full force and people were frustrated with the never-ending constitution-making process.
The public has however responded overwhelmingly. The CA has now gathered hundreds of thousands of suggestions in public hearings and interactions held in all 75 districts. In addition, the secretariat received over 33,000 inputs directly through various means of communication such as websites, email, toll-free telephone and fax.
Strong protests staged in some parts of the country by dissident political parties and voices raised by other social groups have further complicated things.
The CA and the political leadership have been praised for reaching out to the people in far-flung places for public consultation for the historic task, despite their announcement of a 'fast-track' constitution.
But the heaps of feedback have added to the challenge of leadership of major political forces as well.
They can neither accommodate all the suggestions nor can they simply shun people's opinions collected as a part of the CA's formal procedure.
It is challenging because most of the suggestions offered contradict the salient features of the draft constitution, which is itself an outcome of a political deal between four major political forces—Nepali Congress (NC), CPN-UML, UCPN (Maoist) and Madhesi People's Rights Forum-Democratic (MPRF-D).
Participants across the country have made strong recommendations on key aspects of the constitution.
The loudest voice heard from various sections of the society nationwide is for direct election of key political positions such as president, prime minister, lawmakers and heads of village wards.
Other popular views are for reducing number of provinces, enforcing a certain threshold under the Proportional Representation category, mentioning "religious freedom" in place of the word "secular", determining minimum academic qualifications to be eligible for political positions and ensuring citizenship through either mother 'or' father.
After seeing public support for directly-elected top executive posts, some key UML leaders have already started lobbying for adoption of directly-elected executive prime minister even as the party leadership had already agreed on the parliament-elected prime ministerial system.
Similarly, a section of leaders in NC and some other parties have been openly campaigning for removal of the word "secular" from the new constitution.
This has emboldened Rastriya Prajatantra Party-Nepal (RPP-N) that advocates reinstatement of Hindu state.
If political leaders' recent statements are any indication, they are not in a mood to make significant changes in the draft based on public suggestions. That is because these demands contradict the recent political deal inked by four major political forces.
They have been arguing that the public feedback shouldn't be taken as votes cast in a referendum and the feedback is not binding.
Leaders involved in interparty negotiations believe that since the ongoing constitution-making process is basically driven by consensus approach, the public mandate can only be a reference material for further efforts to settle remaining issues and correct some others.
Major political parties are in a fix because they can't overlook public sentiment expressed during the campaign, but at the same time they can't also afford to undo the recent hard-earned progress in constitution-making.
The constitution-making process gathered momentum only after they inked the 16-point deal in the changed context following the natural disaster in April.
While challenges galore, there are also some grounds for optimism.
A major basis of hope is the strength of political forces that are in favor of producing new constitution without further delay. They together command an overwhelming majority in the CA.
Until some months ago the ruling NC-UML alliance that commanded two-thirds majority in House was in favor of producing new constitution through an up and down vote in the CA. At the time some major political forces were in the opposition camp.
With the signing of 16-point deal, the third-largest UCPN (Maoist) and MPRF-D, along with other fringe parties, have joined the NC-UML alliance, making it easy for them to promulgate the constitution on the basis of their combined numerical strength.
No force can derail constitution making so long as these forces stand together.
In this context, leaders must be able to transform this situation into an opportunity by striking right balance between heeding public sentiment and not derailing the ongoing process. It is also a chance to revisit the draft to see if it is really against the aspirations of a large section of the society.
They can find an amicable solution by accommodating popular legitimate demands, even without halting the statute-drafting process.
Public suggestions should be taken as inspiration for improvement, not as an excuse to derail the process.
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