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A New Life To Constituent Assembly
By KTM Metro Reporter
May 29, 2011: out of 596 members of the Constituent Assembly (CA), 504 voted for extending the term of the CA for three months while four voted against the extension of the term of the CA.
At the last moment, the three major political parties such as UCPN-Maoist, NC and CPN-UML agreed to
1) Complete the basic work on the peace process in three months;
2) Prepare a first draft of a constitution in three months;
3) Enforce the agreements reached with UDMF in the past, and make the Nepali Army inclusive;
4) Extend the term of the CA for three months;
5) Prime Minister will resign for paving the way for forming a national consensus government.
Chairman of UCPN-Maoist Prachanda, President of NC Sushil Kporala and Chairman of CPN-UML Jhalanath Khanal signed off the document at the last moment.
All the members of the Constituent Assembly had been standby from the morning of Saturday, May 28, 2011 for a CA session, and at 11.15 PM, the session of the CA started off.
NC lawmakers had been obstructing the government submitting the Amendment Bill on extending the term of the CA demanding to meet their 10-point agreement but the five-point agreement the three super leaders of the three major parties such as UCPN-Maoist, NC and CPN-UML signed off did not meet the 10-point agreement. As such the NC lawmakers favored the extension of the term of the CA to their 10-point agreement.
After the formal discussion on the Amendment Bill on extending the term of the CA, lawmakers voted on extending the term of the CA at 3:00 AM Sunday, May 29, 2011.
The question is whether the three super leaders of the three major political parties will keep their words and complete the work they promise to do in three months. The answer is clearly no if the past performances of these guys are any guide.
Last year also, on this very day, the same lawmakers had voted for extending the term of the CA for a year after the three major political parties reached the three-point agreement; one of them was the resignation of the prime minister but it was never enforced, and the infamous Prime Minister Madhav Nepal ran the country for 20 months including the eight months the current Prime Minister Jhalanath Khanal, as the then Chairman of CPN-UML had successfully hold the election to a new prime minister hostage on the pretext of forming a national consensus government but he could not form a national consensus government and now agreed on quitting the office for paving the way to forming a new national consensus government.
President Dr. Ram Baran Yadav has put his seal of assent on the Amendment Bill on extending the term of the CA for three months; and it has become a law. This is an example of how fast Nepalis could work when the need arises.
The diplomats of the EU, and Switzerland have welcomed the last-minute decision on extending the life of the CA for three months, and hoped that the leaders of the political parties will work hard to enforce what they have agreed on, and also promised to provide necessary support for completing the peace process and constitution writing.
