KATHMANDU, MAY 11 -
The full House of the Constituent Assembly (CA) is all set to begin
discussion on contentious issues of constitution drafting from May 13.
The CA, , which was prorogued on April 29 due to lack of enough
business, will get business related to the import
ant task of statute
drafting for the first time after its initial meeting on February 22.
During its preliminary phase, the second CA performed tasks related to
formation of thematic committees and taking full ownership of progress
made by the erstwhile CA.
Lawmakers and officials at the CA Secretariat assured that the new CA
will be getting regular business, thereby raising hope for a new
constitution within a year as promised by both the government and the
political parties.
Officials said the Committee to Study and Determine Constitutional
Record (CSDCR) has made a substantial progress in its authorised tasks.
The CA business depends on the progress made by the CSDCR on listing
both the settled as well as disputed issues of the new constitution.
The CSDCR is a committee among five other CA committees formed to
assist the full house of the CA. The parties formed the committee to
formally take ownership of the achievements of the first CA in line with
the commitment to complete the constitution writing process in the
stipulated time.
Accordingly, the CSDCR has formed six sub-committees to look into the
reports of 11-thematic committees of the first CA which was dissolved in
May, 2012 without delivering the much-awaited new constitution.
Of that, three sub-committees have already submitted their reports to the main committee.
Meanwhile, the remaining sub-committees are in the process of
finalising two reports outlining the settled and disputed issues in the
previous CA.
In the first phase, issues related to protection of national interest,
natural resources, fiscal rights, revenue distribution will be
discussed in the full house of the CA. In the second phase, issues
related to federalism, forms of governance, citizenship among others
will be discussed.
Thereafter, all the approved reports will be forwarded to the Drafting
Committee after holding thorough discussion on them while contentious
issues will be forwarded to the Political Dialogue and Consensus
Committee (PDCC) in order to help political parties forge consensus on
them.
“Our Committee is leaving no stone unturned to ensure that the second
CA will get enough business once it commences,” said CSDCR Secretary Ram
Saran Ghimire.
The CSDCR will have to complete its designated tasks within the end of
May. Whether other CA committees will be able to perform their duties
entirely depends on the progress made by CSDCR in the tasks assigned to
it. The Drafting Committee, however, is holding consultations with
experts about drafting the new constitution.
After May 29, two committees - Drafting Committee and PDCC will become
active if everything goes as per the calendar of events. Two committees
related to collection of public opinion and capacity enhancement of
lawmakers are currently without any tasks. The previous CA had failed to
deliver new constitution as serious disputes cropped on the issues of
federalism and forms of governance.
After the formation of five CA committees through consensus and passage
of transitional justice bill, the constitution drafting process is
moving ahead in full speed.
However, Rastriya Prajatantra Party-Nepal (RPP-N), the fourth largest
party in the CA, has expressed serious reservation over the current
practice of listing the settled and disputed issues of the new
constitution, instead demanding a referendum to settle the contentious
issues of constitution drafting.
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