Taking part in the second day meting hosted by the Constitution Committee of the CA on Tuesday, the parties cautioned that the new constitution will not materialize even within the extended tenure of the CA if the parties fail to reach a consensus. [break]
They said the parties must agree on the fundamentals of the new constitution, abide by past agreements including the 12-point agreement, forge consensus among all 25 parties and review not only the work plan but also the working system and regulations of the CA.
UML chairman Jhala Nath Khanal said the point 1 and 3 of the three-point deal reached on May 28 are equally important and both the points should be implemented together. He said all 25 parties had equal role to play to take peace process and constitution writing to conclusion.
Maoist vice chairman Narayan Kaji Shrestha said consensus system, power sharing, peace process and constitution making are interlinked and they cannot be looked and dealt separately.
He said power-sharing will remain a mater of concern till the peace process reached a conclusion and added that the prime minister should resign as per May 28 agreement and a new consensus government should be formed to take the peace process and constitution writing ahead.
He said the issues raised by all parties should be addressed through a package deal.
NC leader KB Gurung said a meeting point should be found even by spending a whole month.
TMDP chair Mahantha Thakur called the parties to abide by past agreements as there is no situation where a party can move singlehandedly by sidelining others.
CPN-Unified’s Pari Thapa the failure of the past two years is the result of the political parties’ critical attitude rather than showing constructive activities.
Chure Bhawar Ekata Party’s Keshav Mainali said the constitution writing could not be taken to a conclusion in the past two years as the major parties never focused on it. He said the CA work plan should be prepared only after a guarantee for constitution writing.
CC Chair Nilamber Acharya said the constitution can be written in one year if all the parties move ahead unitedly through consensus.
The CC has postponed its meeting until further notice.
Related story
Top leaders repeat consensus rhetoric
