CA CAN MEET FOUR TIMES ON SINGLE DAY FOR PASSING BILL
Kathmandu, May 26: The topic of whether or not the new constitution is going to be issued remains uncertain as the three main parties are not able to reach consensus on the bill brought by the government for amending the Interim Constitution-2007 for extending the term of the Constituent Assembly.
The Interim Constitution states that the new constitution should be issued within two years from the first meeting of the Constituent Assembly which was convened on May 28, 2008.
The parties will have only 16 hours left to reach agreement for the passage of the bill the government has brought for extending the term of the Constituent Assembly by one year after the meeting of the Legislature-Parliament at 8 a.m. on Friday.
Chairman of the Constituent Assembly Subas Nembang said most probably the House will meet four times on Friday for completing the process of passing the bill.
According to him, in the first meeting the bill will be taken into process for permission while in the second meeting the decision of the Business Advisory Committee on suspension of the rules will be taken in the process of implementation.
The meeting of the Legislature-Parliament’s Business Advisory Committee last Monday amended the business regulations suspending the provision on 72-hour period. There was the provision of presenting the bill on making eighth amendment to the Interim Constitution of Nepal-2007 in the meeting of the Legislature-Parliament on the same day. But the Legislature-Parliament did not meet on that day also.
Policy discussions on the bill will be held in the second meeting and in the third meeting the CA members will be allotted time for the amendment process on the main bill considering the availability of time. The process of presenting the bill for decision will be initiated at this meeting.
Since there is the provision of resolving the issues raised in connection with the amendment of the constitution through the process of voting, the proposal on amendment of the bill will have to be passed by two-thirds votes.
CA Chairman Nembang said the bill once passed by the Parliament will be sent to the President for certification. After notice is received from the Office of the President confirming the certification of the bill, it will be presented in the fourth meeting of the Legislature-Parliament and the bill will get the final shape.
He said the political parties have been urged to forge consensus through talks on this basis and a decision has been taken to take forward the amendment process since the morning on 28 May.
Stating the time will be adequate for concluding the tasks related to the bill within that period, CA chair Nembang said, “ But unfortunately if the political parties fail to reach consensus, it might take much time and I hope that situation will not arise.”
He said today’s meeting of the Legislature-Parliament was postponed so that the political parties would reach a conclusion by the morning of May 28. He made it clear that the leaders were agreed at the high-level meeting held at the Constituent Assembly building that the Constituent Assembly should be given continuity.
Stating the Interim Constitution has not envisaged any other method of issuing the constitution except from the Constituent Assembly, he said neither the Constituent Assembly nor the Legislature-Parliament will remain if the amendment bill is not passed after undergoing the required process. He said in that situation, the country will merely hang on to the Interim Constitution.
He said the government will also be of a care-taker nature in such a condition and that since the situation might be for ever, the country will get into a deep crisis. RSS