The CA has been conducting deliberations over the first draft of the new constitution in the full CAl since Friday. After this is over, lawmakers are to visit the districts to collect public feedback. The CA secretariat is, however, yet to finalize a detailed plan for this.
Former prime minister Madhav Kumar Nepal said that 100 percent consensus among all the political forces would not be feasible and that the country couldn't afford failure by the present Constituent Assembly (CA)."Of late, I have been worried that the country may face a serious crisis if CA-II fails to produce a new constitution," said CPN-UML leader Nepal while addressing the full CA meeting.
He said there shouldn't be any backtracking now from the ongoing course and from producing a new constitution by fast-tracking the process. "We must go to the people for their feedback but shouldn't take too long because any delay may derail the course altogether," he said.
He suggested including a provision on reappointing Supreme Court justices and office bearerrs of constitutional bodies. Major political parties are divided over the issue. The Nepali Congress is against the proposal while the UML and UCPN (Maoist), among others, are for reappointments.
Finance Minister Ram Sharan Mahat claimed that the first draft has covered most of the ground and tried to address the concerns of communities that were deprived of their rights in the past. He pointed out some of the weaknesses of the draft, particularly over financial matters.
"It has included 30 different fundamental rights but is silent on how to attain the capabiliity of implement them in practice," said NC leader Mahat.
He also said that the directive principles are silent on how to promote economic growth and lay the ground for prosperity.
"The country should be led toward prosperity by attracting domestic as well as foreign investment. This should be clearly articulated in the directive principles," he said.
Agni Sapkota of UCPN (Maoist) lauded the latest progress in constitution-making as a process driven by domestic political forces.
He, however, described the decision to adopt a parliamentary system as a mistake. "Executive presidential system is necessary for our country's prosperity and sovereignty," he said. "It is possible and we should still try to go for it."
NC's Chandra Bhandari suggested adopting a mandatory five percent threshold provision for any political party to secure a seat in the legislature under the Proportional Representation (PR) electoral system.
Dilnath Giri of Rastriya Prajatantra Party-Nepal (RPP-N) reiterated his party's official stance that some vital political disputes such as over secularism, republicanism and federalism should be decided through referendum.
Deepak Bohara of RPP demanded revision of the decision to adopt secularism.
Upendra Yadav of Federal Socialist Forum Nepal accused the major political parties of promoting only one language and one culture under the new constitution. He also accused them of trying to deprive a section of society of citizenship certificates.
Chitra Bahadur KC of Rastriya Janamorcha stressed that the constitution should be promulgated while leaving the disputes relating to federalism pending if necessary.
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