Parties' consensus must for CA extension: NC

KATHMANDU, May 15: Nepali Congress (NC) has concluded that the term of the Constituent Assembly (CA) should be extended by bringing all the parties including the main opposition UCPN (Maoist) to a consensus.



The ongoing Central Working Committee (CWC) meeting arrived at this conclusion, arguing that promulgation of a new constitution and conclusion of the peace process were not possible without cooperation from the Maoists. A majority of the CWC members argued that the parties must reach a consensus with the Maoists on the timeframe for accomplishing the peace process and drafting the constitution before extending the CA´s term that expires on May 28. [break]



There were two agenda items for discussion --CA term extension and resolving the current political deadlock-- at Saturday´s CWC meeting.



According to NC General Secretary Bimalendra Nidhi, 31out of the total of 35 members taking part in the deliberations argued that the term of the CA should be extended as failing to do so would leave the country in a political vacuum.



CWC members Binaya Dhwaj Chanda, Sunil Bhandari, Pradip Giri and Gobinda Raj Joshi, however, argued that it would be meaningless to extend the CA´s term unless the Maoists commit themselves to the fundamental tenets of democracy. They maintained that the Maoists must transform themselves into a civilian party by facilitating management of their combatants and disbanding the paramilitary structure of the Young Communist League, if they are to ensure a constitution and peace.



Though a majority of CWC members appeared in favor of extending the CA´s terms, differences persisted on the length of term extension.



While Chakra Bastola, Shekhar Koirala and Krishna Sitaula argued that a six-month extension would suffice for the constitution drafting and peace process, Dr Ram Sharan Mahat, Ram Chandra Poudel, Dip Kumar Upadhyaya and Chiranjibi Wagle, among others, suggested extending the term by a year.



According to Nidhi, the NC has called a joint meeting of the party´s Central Working Committee and Parliamentary Party for Sunday to develop a uniform idea on various concurrent political issues including extension of the CA term.



The joint meeting is aimed at canvassing the opinion of the party´s leaders on issues related to the ongoing peace process, constitution drafting, the current political deadlock and government change. The CWC meeting scheduled for Monday will take a decision on the length of CA term extension, in line with the suggestions received from both the CWC and Parliamentary Party members.



Saturday´s CWC meeting also discussed in detail the ongoing political deadlock vis-à-vis the stance the NC has been maintaining over various issues related to the peace process and constitution drafting. Most CWC members argued that the NC should stick to its stance on the six-point agenda that includes management of Maoist combatants, return of seized properties and disbanding the paramilitary structure of the Young Communist League.



According to Vice President Gopal Man Shrestha, the CWC meeting also dwelt on the performance of the current government.



Stating that the UML-led government had failed to live up to expectations, a few members suggested that the NC should assume leadership of a new government to help conclude the peace process and promulgate the new constitution as leaders of both the Maoists and the UML had utterly failed in this regard.



Shrestha said most CWC members argued that the NC should take active initiative to end the current political deadlock as there are just 13 days left before expiry of the CA´s two-year term.



koshraj@myrepublica.com

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