Congress, UML to Withhold Suggestions from PM Shah's Constitution Amendment Task Force

Kathmandu. Nepali Congress and CPN-UML will not provide any suggestions regarding constitution amendment to the 'Constitution Amendment Debate Paper Preparation Task Force-2082' formed under the leadership of Prime Minister Balendra Shah's chief political advisor Asim Shah.

A task force was formed under Shah's leadership immediately after the government was formed under Balen Shah's leadership. Although parties represented in parliament were included as members in the task force, Nepali Congress had not sent its representative to the task force from the beginning, while UML, after sending a representative in the initial days, later withdrew from the task force.

The task force led by Shah is preparing to submit a report to the Prime Minister within a few days after collecting suggestions from stakeholders.

At a press conference held on Asar 20 to publicize the 100-day achievements of the Balen government, coordinator Shah had stated that the task force would prepare and submit the report to the Prime Minister by the end of Asar.

'The task force is discussing with various stakeholder bodies, constitutional experts, and political parties. We have now reached the stage of report writing,' said coordinator Shah, 'We will submit the report to the Prime Minister by the end of Asar.'

Congress Preparing Stance on Amendment

Nepali Congress Vice-President and coordinator of the party's constitution amendment suggestion committee, Pushpa Bhusal, said that Congress will publicly announce its stance on constitution amendment on its own after some time. Leader Bhusal stated that since Congress has not sent any representative to the government task force, there is no need to provide suggestions to that task force.

'We have not sent representatives to the government task force,' Bhusal said, 'Therefore, there is no need for that task force to take or give suggestions.'

Congress had taken the stance of not sending representatives to the government task force, citing the government's failure to publicly announce its stance on constitution amendment. 'We are collecting suggestions from the party for constitution amendment,' Bhusal told RatoPati, 'Our committee has collected suggestions from stakeholders including people's representatives. Now Congress will form its stance on constitution amendment and make it public.'

Congress had formed a 17-member constitution amendment suggestion committee under Bhusal's leadership. Committee members include senior advocates and constitutional experts Radheshyam Adhikari, Harihar Dahal, Prem Bahadur Khadka, Upendra Keshari Nyaupane, Sher Bahadur KC, Yadunath Khanal, Gopal Krishna Ghimire, Yogendra Bahadur Adhikari, Dinesh Tripathi, Sitaram KC, Lalit Bahadur Basnet, advocates Ranbahadur Thebe, Sharmila Shrestha, Jhalmaya BK, and Niraj Gupta.

Bhusal stated that the committee will prepare a draft for amendment after a detailed study of the constitution and form an opinion through extensive discussions with stakeholders, experts, and the general public.

UML Limited to Committee and Subcommittee

CPN-UML, which withdrew from the government task force, had also formed a seven-member task force under the convenership of Vice-Chairman Bishnu Poudel. UML task force members include Julie Kumari Mahato, Agni Prasad Kharel, Mahesh Bartaula, Krishna Bhakta Pokharel, Tika Ram Bhattarai, and Pasang Sherpa. The task force meeting had formed another subcommittee under the leadership of leader Agni Kharel for further homework.

However, immediately after the formation of the subcommittee led by Kharel, Vice-Chairman Poudel was arrested. Meanwhile, it is reported that subcommittee convenor Kharel has not been able to do formal work and further homework due to health problems.

Task force member Mahesh Bartaula, from the Poudel-led task force, said that further homework on constitution amendment could not be done after convenor Bishnu Poudel was taken into custody.

'A subcommittee has been formed under Agni Kharel's leadership, but it has also not been able to do much work,' Bartaula said, 'Detailed discussions and dialogues with stakeholders on amendment have not taken place.'

Leader Bartaula said that although UML is in favor of forming its stance and bottom line on the issue of constitution amendment, it will not provide any suggestions to the government task force.

'UML has been saying that the constitution should be amended. Accordingly, we have been trying to prepare what the party thinks about it? What will be the bottom line?' he said, 'The current government does not have a clear stance on constitution amendment.'

Bartaula stated that UML did not join the government mechanism because the government has not formally and clearly stated its stance on constitution amendment. 'We have withdrawn from the government mechanism that does not provide a formal stance,' he said, 'Because the question of what the government wants to amend the constitution for and what it does not want is not clear. In such a situation, discussions and dialogues with it are not necessary.'

Accusation of 'Collapsing' the Constitution

Nepali Congress, CPN-UML, and Nepal Communist Party (NCP) have expressed suspicion that the ruling Rastriya Swatantra Party (RSP) wants to change the very nature of governance by collapsing the current constitution.

'By the time of RSP's first general convention, it became clear from its political document that the party has completely stood against the constitution,' said UML leader Bartaula, 'It appears that RSP wants to dismantle the constitution, dismantle federalism, and wants non-partisanship in local levels.'

Similarly, Congress and UML claim that RSP has completely rejected the current parliamentary system and wants a directly executive form of governance. UML and Congress, who are in favor of the current parliamentary practice, are not in favor of dismantling the major foundations of the constitution.

'We will make social justice, federalism, and the assurance of republic, as well as the existing governance system, our bottom line, and we will not let them be dismantled,' Bartaula said, 'We will not let the constitution be dismantled and federalism collapse.'