KATHMANDU, July 9: Gagan Thapa has accused the government of pursuing constitutional amendment in a "light, immature and superficial" manner, arguing that the current parliamentary arithmetic is insufficient to amend the Constitution.
Speaking at a program at the Nepali Congress party office on Thursday, Thapa said the parliamentary majority formed to establish the government should not be treated as having the mandate of a Constituent Assembly.
"The parliamentary arithmetic that formed the government cannot be used as if it were a Constituent Assembly," he said.
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Thapa also questioned the rationale behind the government's task force on constitutional amendment, alleging that it had failed to clearly identify the problems it intended to address or the provisions it sought to amend.
"We have entered the constitutional amendment debate all at once, but the government has not presented any clear objective or identified specific issues that require amendment. That is our main concern," he said.
He warned that, in the absence of clear priorities, political parties, ethnic and regional groups, and other interest groups inside and outside Parliament could push competing agendas, potentially dragging sensitive issues such as the state's structure, system of governance and fundamental rights into controversy.
"Demands to alter the state's structure, the system of governance or citizens' established fundamental rights could emerge, pushing the country toward uncertainty," he said.
Thapa recalled that the Nepali Congress had opposed the government's amendment task force from the outset, saying the party had formally informed the government on April 27 that it would not nominate a representative to the panel.
"We did not send a representative to the task force and, through the same letter, urged other political parties not to participate. Although belatedly, all parties have now withdrawn their representatives. We had foreseen this situation back in April," he said.
