CA proceedings have remained stalled for nearly a month and a half since Nembang on February 12 deferred the CA meeting without fixing the date for the next sitting.
Nembang convened a meeting of chief whips of major political parties and suggested to them to work urgently to settle the contentious issues of constitution-making or agree on the procedures of deciding the disputes of constitution-making.
"If the leaders don't settle the contentious issues in consensus and also continue to remain divided over the procedures, I will fix the date for the next sitting," Nembang told reporters after the meeting with chief whips at his chamber on Wednesday. He said he will wait until 5 pm on March 29.
Nembang claimed that he is doing this based on the suggestions by the opposition parties because they have said that the situation may worsen after that as the opposition parties have planned to intensify aggressive protests from coming Sunday.
He however didn't disclose what date he will announce for CA plenary sitting.
The CA regulations have it that lawmakers must be informed about the meeting at least 72 hours in advance.
Sources at the parliament secretariat presumed that Nembang might call the meeting after April 9 when the second phase of protests of the UCPN (Maoist)-led opposition alliance concludes.
Nembang on Wednesday convened the meeting of chief whips and informed them about his plan as leaders from the major political forces have made no progress toward settling disputes.
Last week he had convened a meeting of top leaders from the major political parties and urged them to settle their disputes by Wednesday.
Nembang on February 12 deferred the CA plenary until further notice as leaders from opposition parties and civil society members claimed that CA deferral for indefinite period would create ground for forging consensus.
UCPN (Maoist) Chief Whip Girirajmani Pokharel however said that convening CA meeting to resume the majority-course would only invite more confrontation.
"These days we are just boycotting the CA meetings. If the similar majority course is further pushed, we may have to rethink about the proposal to quit the CA altogether," said Pokharel after the meeting. He said that he suggested to CA chairman to push for regular negotiations among the top leaders.
Nepali Congress Chief Whip Chinkaji Shrestha argued that political parties will get time for forging consensus even after summoning the plenary meetings.
CPN-UML Chief Whip Agni Kharel said the CA can't be deferred indefinitely as the parties are nowhere near consensus. "If the parties can't settle the issues, the CA business should be resumed based on its regulations," said Kharel.
Rastriya Prajatantra Party-Nepal Chief Whip Dilnath Giri said his party is for ending the uncertainty by resuming the stalled CA proceedings without further delay.
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