Leaders for constitution without further delay

KATHMANDU, Aug 27: Senior leaders and lawmakers of major political parties have stressed on promulgating the new constitution from the Constituent Assembly (CA) without further delay by incorporating as much concerns as possible of various groups and communities.

Taking part during the deliberations on the revised draft of the new constitution in the CA full House meeting on Thursday, leaders and lawmakers also insisted on making necessary amendments to the draft. Stating that new constitution will be flexible for future amendments, senior leaders from major political parties tried to assure disgruntled groups that their demands could be still addressed through the CA as its process is not over.Former Prime Minister and UCPN (Maoist) senior leader Baburam Bhattarai said that the CA does not have option to be failure again. "As we are close to promulgating the new constitution we must move ahead together to complete the task," Bhattarai said. "If we fail to deliver the constitution this time also, there won't be another chance."

However he urged the political parties to review the draft on federal state delineations, identity, inclusiveness, and the issue of representation among other provisions in the new constitution draft. Drawing government and the CA's attention towards the Tharu protests in Kailali, Bhattarai urged to pay serious attention to the concerns of agitating communities.

Nepali Congress Vice-President Ram Chandra Paudel said that shortcomings in the new constitution could be corrected at any time. "We can correct the draft any time we want. But we must move ahead by promulgating the new constitution without further delays," said Paudel.

He opined that the revised draft of the new constitution guarantees fundamental rights and paves way for the mainstreaming of suppressed and marginalized communities. Referring to the demands for reviewing federal state boundaries made by various agitating groups, Paudel said that federal state boundaries could be revised on the basis of recommendations made by the proposed federal commission.

Former Prime Minister and CPN-UML senior leader Madhav Kumar Nepal also stressed on the need to promulgate the new constitution at the earliest and urged all political parties to support the process. He called on agitating parties and communities to come to talks for resolving their demands and promised addressing genuine demands of the agitating communities.

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