Maoist Chairman Pushpa Kamal Dahal has stated that the party should not lend its support for extension of the CA term until Prime Minister Madhav Kumar Nepal steps down, paving the way for a national consensus government and until the parties agree to amend the interim constitution to replace the current majority system with the previous consensus system. [break]
But Vice-chairman Dr Baburam Bhattarai and his supporters have argued that the party should be open to all options for garnering consensus among the political parties, and make serious moves to save the CA from dissolution.
In his political document presented at the party central committee (CC) meeting on Friday, Dahal stated that lending support to the CA term extension in the present context is to legitimize the current government and ensure that the constitution would not be drafted in future.
“The party should not support the CA term extension without making sure that the constitution would be drafted in favor of the people within the extended period,” a Maoist leader quoted Dahal as saying during the jumbo CC meeting.
Dahal also stated that the CA was a Maoist agenda, but it has come under the control of “reactionary elements”, making it impossible to draft a new constitution in favor of the people.
According to party sources, Dr Bhattarai argued that the party should be flexible and leave all options open to save the CA, which is the “Maoist agenda and achievement”.
“It would be a great setback for the Maoist movement and the country would face a serious crisis if the CA term is not extended. We should take initiatives to safeguard the CA,” a leader close to Dr Bhattarai quoted him as saying.
Dr Bhattarai said he did not mean surrendering to the ruling parties, but the party should be open to all options to garner consensus among the parties for the sake of the peace process and the constitution.
“If the Maoist agendas are addressed in the new constitution, the party should be ready even to accept other parties leading the next government,” said a senior Maoist leader.
More than half of the 16 standing committee members, including Top Bahadur Rayamajhi, Barshaman Pun, Dinanath Sharma, Amik Sherchan and Lilamani Pokharel had spoken in favor of extending the CA term, keeping all options open.
Party Chairman Dahal is of the opinion that the CA could be revived through political consensus even if its term is not extended by May 28. According to him, once the CA goes into ´coma´* after May 28, there would be a political vacuum and that would lead to a new agreement among the political parties to diffuse the crisis.
The meeting will continue on Saturday.
NC, UML’s take
NC General Secretary Bimalendra Nidhi trashed the idea that the CA will continue to remain alive even if its term is not extended before its two-year term expires on May 28.
“The Constituent Assembly will not remain alive if its term is not extended,” he said. “It is against the democratic republic and the ongoing peace process to argue that the CA will only be in a state of coma until its term is extended”.
Nidhi, however, argued that the government will continue to remain in place even after the CA gets dissolved.
CPN-UML Spokesperson Pradip Gyawali said the CA’s status will fall into a state similar to dissolution. “It is a wrong interpretation of the laws to say that the CA will go into a state of hibernation,” he said.
Gyawali alleged that it was an attempt to downplay the urgency of the May 28 deadline and the intention was to derail ongoing efforts to end the political deadlock.
He argued that it is a blunder to say that nothing serious would happen even if the term is not extended.
* (Corrected)
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