KATHMANDU, Jan 10: Amid preparations of the ruling parties to bring certain amendments to the constitution, opposition parties including the CPN (Maoist Center), CPN (Unified Socialist) and Rastriya Prajatantra Party (RPP) have initiated discussions to form their position on the constitutional amendments.
Top leaders of the Maoist Center and Unified Socialist have intensified their meetings to forge their position on key agendas of constitutional amendment. The discussion formally began after Maoist Center Chairman Pushpa Kamal Dahal and Unified Socialist Chairman Madhav Kumar Nepal held a meeting in Singha Durbar on Thursday to discuss the matter.
Maoist Center General Secretary Dev Gurung said the opposition parties have begun discussion on the agenda of key constitutional amendment in view of the fact that the government has expressed its intention to amend the constitution. The meeting between the Maoist Center and Unified Socialist comes days after the Maoist Center through its Central Committee meeting decided to propose three key agendas for the constitutional amendment.
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The Maoist Center has proposed introducing a directly elected executive president or executive chief, implementing a fully proportional electoral system and allowing ministers to be appointed from outside the parliament. General Secretary Gurung said they would propose alternatives to the government’s constitutional amendment plans.
Earlier on July 2, 2024, the ruling Nepali Congress (NC) and CPN-UML had reached a seven-point agreement with constitutional amendment as one of the key agenda for what they said was for political stability in the country. The Maoist Center has argued that a directly elected executive head who leads the country for five years is a must for political stability in the country.
Maoist Center has proposed implementing a fully proportional electoral system to reduce election costs. The party has argued that the provision of appointing ministers from outside the parliament would help to ensure lawmakers focus on legislation rather than vying for ministerial positions.
The top leaders of the Maoist Center and Unified Socialist have also held discussions with Janata Samajbadi Party-Nepal –led by Upendra Yadav. The parties have decided to revive the Socialist Front to press for their agenda in the constitutional amendments.
Maoist leaders said a meeting of the Socialist Front called for January 15 is expected to discuss in detail their common agenda of constitution amendment.
Meanwhile, the Unified Socialist had formed a Constitution Amendment Suggestion Task Force on January 4. The Task Force led by Vice-Chairman Prakash Jwala includes Garima Shah, Ganesh BK, Baldev Chaudhary, Ramchandra Yadav, Ghanaprasad Gautam and Rajan Rai as its members. Leaders have stated that the task force will coordinate with opposition parties and other stakeholders.
Similarly, the Rastriya Swatantra Party (RSP) had also formed a task force for constitutional amendment. During its Central Committee meeting on January 5, the RSP formed the task force led by Chief Whip Santosh Pariyar. The task force includes Kantishikha Dhital, Dr. Nandan Yadav, Ganesh Karki, Sobita Gautam, Asim Shah, Dr. Toshima Karki, Dr. Achyutam Lamichhane and Megh Ale as its members.
