Himalayan News Service
Kathmandu, July 4
The three major parties — Unified CPN-Maoist, Nepali Congress and CPN-UML — today continued parleys on formation of State Restructuring Commission and work schedule for the constitution drafting.
According to sources, the parties, in an informal meeting today, agreed to finalise SRC formation and constitution drafting work schedule at once.
SRC and work schedule for the constitution drafting are inter-related. But SRC has to be formed by the government, whereas the work schedule needs to be finalised by the Constituent Assembly.
SRC is one of the core issues for the constitution drafting because in its absence the CA cannot decide on names, numbers and boundaries of federal units.
Constituent Assembly Chairman Subas Chandra Nembang will present a blueprint of CA work schedule, as well as duration of SRC. A tripartite meeting of the parties will discuss the strength, Terms of Reference and tenure of SRC.
It is likely that SRC will have an initial term of three months from the date it commences its work. All the members of the commission are expected to be experts in related fields.
Though the parties have reached an agreement in principle to form SRC, it has been delayed due to the Maoists’ reservations on some issues.
The government led by Maoist Chairman Pushpa Kamal Dahal in 2008 had formed a commission under Ganesh Gurung. But the commission never got a complete shape as the then opposition parties, especially NC, failed to recommend names for the commission.
Tomorrow’s three-party meeting will also discuss whether Gurung will be at the helm in the commission.
Party sources said the three-party meet would put finishing touches to the CA work schedule aiming to finish the rest of the tasks related to constitution drafting within nine months from the date of the CA extension.
CA secretariat has already prepared a draft of the CA work schedule. CA secretariat officials said the work schedule, however, ‘does not propose any specific deadline to accomplish any specific task’. “But it has planned to complete constitution drafting in nine months,” the sources added.
NC, CPN-UML likely to keep coalition intact
Prakash Acharya, Himalayan News Service
Kathmandu, July 4
Concluding that the first of the three-point deal reached between the Unified CPN-Maoist, Nepali Congress and CPN-UML on May 28 should be implemented first, NC and UML today reached an understanding that they would keep the present coalition intact if the Maoists failed to address the key point.
The first of the three-point deal has it that the Maoists shall implement all the past agreements, including management of Maoist combatants at the earliest, return of the properties seized by the Maoists to the rightful owners and the disbanding of the paramilitary structure of the Young Communist League.
The coalition partners in the incumbent caretaker government also agreed to wait for a decision from the UCPN-M until July 7, the deadline set by President Dr Ram Baran Yadav to form a consensus government.
Maoist leadership in the government will not be acceptable until the party guarantees to address the concerns related to the peace process and new constitution, said leaders of both the parties after the meeting held at UML Parliamentary Party office in Singha Durbar.
“We’ll ask the UCPN-M to implement the first point of the deal, which entails completion of rest of the tasks related to the peace process,” said NC general secretary Bimalendra Nidhi.
He added that the NC and UML would consult other parties before calling a three-party meeting — probably by Tuesday — to discuss the contentious issues.
Sources said NC and UML top leaders told each other to be clear on the stance that they would not accept government under Maoist leadership until the party ‘ensured’ completion of the peace process.
“NC Acting President Sushil Koirala and UML Chairman Jhala Nath Khanal and other leaders of the respective parties said, during separate meetings with the UCPN-M, they did not find the Maoists flexible enough on implementing the first point. So, the two parties should now initiate groundwork to form a majority government led by one of us,” said a senior leader present in the meeting.
Leaders of both the parties unanimously said the Maoists were trying to betray them by not implementing the past agreements.
Khanal, in the beginning of the meeting, had made three proposals. “First, we should try our best to make the UCPN-M agree to address our concerns. If it fails, we should take an initiative to form a majority government led by one of us. If this also fails, the incumbent PM should go for the vote of confidence from the parliament to continue with the current coalition,” sources quoted Khanal as saying.
“The onus lies on the UCPN-M to implement the first point, which will pave the way for forming a progressive government to ensure peace and the constitution,” said Khanal.
The two parties also had brief discussion on the appeal by UN Secretary General Bank Ki-moon to form a consensus government.
