Taskforce head denies deal on governance model

KATHMANDU, Jan 22: At a time when Maoists have been accusing the Nepali Congress of (NC) of backtracking from the agreement on system of governance in the dispute resolution subcommittee, coordinator of the taskforce under the subcommittee Laxman Lal Karna said Saturday that no such agreement has been reached.



Karna said they had presented a “mixed model” of governance as an alternative. Karna, who belongs to the Sadbhawana Party, told Republica that they tried to find a “middle path” after the UCPN (Maoist) and the Nepali Congress refused to budge from their respective stances.[break]



“We had presented a mixed model of governance as an alternative. But there had been no unanimous decision on the issue as NC expressed its reservation over the model,” said Karna told over phone from Birgunj.



Maoist leaders, especially those from the hardline faction, have lately revived many of the issues already settled in the Constitutional Committee, accusing NC of backtracking from the agreement on system of governance.



Agni Kharel, who represents CPN-UML in the taskforce, said the proposal was prepared by the taskforce but not finalized by the subcommittee. “The argument that Nepali Congress backtracked from the agreement makes no sense as it was never endorsed by the subcommittee,” he said.



Maoist Chairman Dahal had then told the taskforce that the issue would be settled by leaders of the major parties.



The taskforce comprised of Kharel and Sapana Pradhan from CPN-UML, Radheshyam Adhikari from NC and Khim Lal Devkota from UCPN (Maoist). “We had proposed a system under which the president would have limited powers while the prime minister elected by parliament would have extensive executive powers,” he added.



Adhikari said they had discussed various possible alternatives. “I had clarified NC stance on the system of governance. But my colleagues agreed to present an alternative model on condition that NC´s on the issue would be mentioned while handing over the report to the subcommittee,” he said.



However, Maoist leader Devkota claimed they had prepared the document on system of governance through consensus.



“We had presented a mixed model of governance through consensus between all the parties. It is the NC that has backtracked from its position on the system of governance,” he said.

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