Party leaders delving into the preliminary draft report prepared by the National Interest Preservation Committee of the Constituent Assembly (CA) failed, however, to resolve three other contentious issues in the preliminary draft. There were altogether seven disputes over the draft.[break]
Leaders agreed to entrust the head of state with authority to appoint and sack the chief of army staff on the recommendation of the cabinet. They have also decided to include a provision requiring the central government to seek the consent of the province concerned before signing any treaty or agreement if it concerns any subject falling under the jurisdiction of the province or affects the province in any other way.
Similarly, the taskforce decided to incorporate a provision saying the province shall take the consent of the federal government before signing any agreement with foreign parties concerning financial or industrial matters.
Members of the taskforce, however, failed to settle the dispute over a proposal for mandatory military training for all Nepali citizens above 18 years.
"The government may call upon citizens above 18 years for military training if deemed necessary for the protection of the country and it shall be the duty of every citizen to take the training and serve the nation," says the disputed clause proposed in the thematic draft.
Maoist leaders have proposed to incorporate the provision in the new constitution but the other parties are opposed.
Similarly, the Maoists have insisted on incorporating a provision relating to rehabilitation, management and integration of Maoist combatants who are now in UN-monitored cantonments. Other parties have said it is unnecessary.
After failing to resolve a dispute about whether or not to use the wording "people´s war" in the new constitution to describe the decade-long Maoist insurgency, the leaders finally decided to forward the matter to the Constitutional Committee of the CA.
The taskforce, headed by UCPN (Maoist) Chairman Pushpa Kamal Dahal, was formed with a view to resolving around 225 disputes in eight out of the 11 CA thematic committees. So far, it has resolved around a dozen disputes relating to system of governance and the judiciary.
Parliamentary party leaders from the Nepali Congress and CPN-UML, Ram Chandra Paudel and Jhalanath Khanal respectively, are in the seven-member taskforce, among others.
Related story
Way to solve India-Nepal border dispute
