As per the direction, the drafting committee has to finalize the draft constitution and forward it to the 601-member full House for voting for final approval and promulgation. In the next five days, the 73-member committee will not only make changes in the draft, but will also convert it into the format of constitution bill to which lawmakers can register their amendment proposals.
Once the updated draft constitution is tabled in the full House, the copies will be distributed to all the lawmakers for study and general deliberations on it will be conducted in the House.
Then, lawmakers will be asked to register their amendments to any provision of the constitution bill within the given days or hours as decided by the CA chairman. After this, article-wise deliberations will be held in the House.
At last, the House will conduct final vote on the constitution bill. Though, originally the CA regulations had a provision to conduct separate votes on each and every article of the constitution bill for final approval but the latest version of the regulations allows the House to vote and endorse all the parts and provisions of the new constitution in its entirety at one go. The constitution bill must secure two-thirds majority of the existing strength of the CA for final endorsement.
Following the final approval of the House, all lawmakers will sign on the constitution and the CA chairman will certify it.
And, at last, the president will sign on the constitution and will declare the commencement of the new constitution amidst a special ceremony.
Thus, it is only a matter of few weeks to complete the remaining tasks of producing the new constitution. So the major political parties' latest announcement to deliver it by the end of August is not
totally unfounded.
If the work style of the major political parties, the CA secretariat, and the CA Chairman Subas Nembang in the recent months is any indication, it can be assumed that the politicians may not be in a mindset to take any more time for this purpose, which has already been protracted for years.
CA members from major political parties maintain that their leaders do not want to prolong the process as such a move might prove to be costly. They believe that anti-constitution elements might attempt to foil the process, if it is further prolonged.
Latest approach of the political leadership and CA chairman is not to skip any of the procedures but to shorten (they describe it as fast-tracking) the process.
Though, the major political forces that are working in the constitution command comfortable two-thirds majority in the CA, the protests spreading across the country against the proposed demarcation of provinces has caused apprehension as well.
The recent incidents of violent protests have alarmed the politicians as some unexpected turn of events have been taking place in some parts of the country. Violent and aggressive protests against the proposed delineation in the hills were a surprise for some politicians.
Sensing that some untoward incidents may take place at the outset of promulgation of new constitution, the prime minister and chiefs of major political parties held series of meetings with chiefs of security agencies in the last two days.
The statements given by key leaders in the recent couple of days indicate that they will try their level best to accommodate the voices of dissident groups but will not halt the work at the CA.
CPN-UML Chairman KP Sharma Oli repeated a standard statement this week. He says, "We will try to address the valid and logical concerns but we can't waste time by listening to those who are hell bent on opposing the constitution-making under one pretext or the other."
Prime Minister Sushil Koirala, UCPN (Maoist) Chairman Pushpa Kamal Dahal and CA's Constitutional Political Dialogue and Consensus Committee (CPDCC) Chairman Baburam Bhattarai, among other key leaders, involved in the decision-making process give similar statements. They say they are for making changes in the draft constitution based on public aspirations but can't afford to prolong the process any longer.
Several lawmakers found at the CA building premises believed that the country will get a constitution in the next couple of days unless there is no dramatic change in the political scenario.
"New constitution will be promulgated by the end of August. Because there is no major ground to delay it any longer," lawmaker Rajan Bhattarai told The Week.
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