Four Political Parties Withdraw from Constitution Amendment Debate Paper Task Force

Kathmandu. Four political parties have stated that they will not participate in the preparation of the debate paper, raising questions about the relevance and validity of the constitution amendment debate paper task force led by Prime Minister Balendra (Balen) Shah's advisor Asim Shah. Their demand is that the government side must clarify on which issues and why the constitution is being amended. 

Dev Gurung, leader of the Nepali Communist Party (NCP), Surendra Jha of JSP, Laxmanlal Karna of Lospa, and Manoj Bhatt of Rajmo stated in a joint letter on Monday that if the fundamental issues of the constitution are not clarified, they will not participate in the process of preparing the report. Gurung, Jha, Karna, and Bhatt were members of the task force. The four parties claim that although they demanded clarity on the relevance, validity, and jurisdiction of the task force from the beginning, the government side has not clarified them. 

'From the very beginning of the task force meeting, we have repeatedly raised questions about the relevance and validity of the government's debate paper title,' the letter states, 'We have repeatedly asked for clarity on the jurisdiction of the task force and on which issues and for what reasons the constitution is being amended? What is the government's concept, etc.? However, none of these issues have been addressed by the government so far.' 

The four parties also stated in the letter submitted to the task force coordinator that if the constitution is to be amended, the debate paper process itself should be abolished. 

'Secondly, a clear commitment must be made not to touch the preamble and fundamental values and principles of the constitution, including its articles and sub-articles,' the letter states, 'And, the government should convene an all-party meeting of the leaders of the parties represented in the Federal Parliament to clarify which issues are to be amended and for what reasons, and take initiative for national consensus.' 

Point number 6 of the letter submitted by the four parties to the task force coordinator states, 'If the above-mentioned issues are not addressed, we wish to inform you that the parties will not be able to participate in the current process of the task force preparing the government's debate paper.' 

The task force is in the process of collecting suggestions and writing the report. The task force has stated that it has collected 41,000 suggestions. However, even the task force members have not been informed about the nature of these suggestions. 

Rajmo leader and task force member Manoj Bhatt said that although they were verbally assured about their demands, they were not convinced. 'We are seeking a written commitment on issues like the constitution and the system,' Bhatt said. 

The term of the task force is ending on June 25.