The New Constitution of Nepal still Uncertain

 

Six months after the extension of the Constituent Assembly (CA) deadline for one more year, the political leaders and constitution experts paint a bleak picture on the prospects of the country getting a new constitution. They say if the leaders continue lacking a sense of urgency, the CA would not be able to promulgate the new constitution in the next six-month timeline.

“The six months have passed without any substantial progress, so there is no room to express satisfaction," said Nilamber Acharya, chairman of the Constitutional Committee (CC) of the CA. "If the parties continue the same tendency, the country will not get the constitution in time.”

The high-level taskforce headed by UCPN (Maoist) Chairman Pushpa Kamal Dahal has settled some of the contentious issues of new constitution such as citizenship and language. However, the parties are yet to sort out differences on several other vital issues like forms of governance and mapping of the federal states. Besides, the works of the taskforce have also been questioned by some lawmakers.

CC Chair Acharya and some lawmakers have expressed their dissatisfaction over the formation of the taskforce stating that it is beyond the jurisdiction of the CA. On Tuesday, some lawmakers urged CA Chairman Subas Nembang not to extend the duration of the taskforce. The taskforce is scheduled to hold a meeting on Wednesday after the gap of two weeks due to the Maoist plenum.

Five-month-long deadlock on government formation and souring relationship among the parties due to the budget issue have raised doubts about timely promulgation of the constitution. Prime Minister Madhav Kumar Nepal had resigned from office five months ago, but a new government is still nowhere in sight. Another key issue linked with the constitution drafting process—integration and rehabilitation of the former Maoist combatants—has failed to make pace despite the compressed deadline of UNMIN's exit [Jan 15, 2011].

Constitution expert Purnaman Shakya said it is time the political leaders feel the sense of urgency.

On May 30, two days after the extension of CA by one year, CA Chairman Nembang had said they would prepare a time-bound action plan to draft the constitution within nine months of the extended period. He had also talked about issuing a white paper about the delay on constitution drafting.

Political leaders concede their doubt over the prospect of the country getting the new constitution on time. “We set a work plan but failed to implement it,” said CPN-UML leader Pardip Gyawali. “If the same pace continues, there are no grounds to expect a new constitution in time.”

The Constitutional Committee, which has the responsibility to prepare a draft of constitution, is jobless for months as different thematic committees failed to forward their reports.

Speaker Nembang, who is helpless against political wrangling, is also worried whether the leaders are serious about resolving the deadlock over constitution writing. He has expressed serious exception to the foreign trips of Prime Minister Madhav Kumar Nepal and other political leaders at a time when they had to engage in a serious and result-oriented dialogue. “The time is running out," said Nembang. "The parties should be serious about drafting the constitution on time.”