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Extending Term Of Constituent Assembly For Six Months
By KTM Metro Reporter
November 21, 2011: The government of Nepal has registered an amendment bill on expanding the term of the Constituent Assembly (CA) for six months at the parliamentary secretariat on Friday, November 18, 2011. Most probably the parliament will pass the bill on Thursday, November 24, 2011. The term of the CA is expiring on November 30, 2011.
For the first time, the term of the CA was extended for one year in 2010. At that time, the term of the CA was extended as a condition of the resignation of Prime Minister Madhav Nepal. Mr. Nepal took several weeks to resign defying the deal he had reached. After his resignation, the election to a new prime minister took eight months, as the single candidate ran for the election 17 times without garnering the required majority in the parliament. The CPN-UML lawmakers headed by Jhalanath Khanal sat on the fence for eight months demanding to form a consensus government obviously for prolonging the life of the government presided over by Mr. Nepal. Thus, the whole extended period of the CA was wasted.
Then, Chairman of CPN-UML Jhalanath Khanal got elected to the prime minister with the support of the UCPN-Maoist forgetting to build a consensus on forming a new government. For six months of his term of office, Mr. Khanal did not do anything. He deserved a medal for doing nothing and staying on in power. He not only wasted the three-month added term of the CA but also another three months he had inherited.
Now, Dr. Baburam Bhattarai is the prime minister after the term of the CA is extended for third time for three months. He has been doing what others have failed to do. The army integration, rehabilitation and retirement have been going on. The return of the seized properties is in the process. Soon, a seven-member commission on state restructuring will be set up. If Dr. Bhattarai could push his colleagues and other political leaders to complete the pace process and the constitution writing in such a way, Nepal would have a new constitution in a year. But he has proposed to extend the term of the CA for six months.
