HOLDS NO WATER
The Himalayan Times
6 April 2012
It was good to know that about 100 lawmakers staged a sit-in-outside the meeting hall of the Constitution Committee in Singh Durbar on Monday as a part of their campaign to pressure party leaders for timely completion of peace and new constitution drafting processes as reported in” Lawmakers step up pressure” (THT, April 3., Page 1). However, it was not clear whether those lawmakers were only from three major parties or from other fringe parties. If they were from only the major parties, it did not carry much weight but did smell rat. What were they doing when their leaders were tangling in unproductive politics (power politics and blame games) for the last four year when they were supposed to cohesively working together to complete the twin tasks in time?
Would they be ready to go against their parties whip if their consciences say not to go along with parties’ line of federal structure? Some of the lawmakers who participated in the sit-in protest program had publicly said last year that they would not take any allowances in the remaining period of CA’s tenure. Would they be ready to refund back their allowances if they and their leaders failed to complete the constitution drafting process by the dead line? It is easier to say than do it.
I think it would be wise for all the CA members now to seriously consider reviving the 2047 constitution. If in case the current CA failed to promulgate new constitution by the dead line, necessary changes should be in it in line with the changed context so as to accommodate all the non and pro royalist parties in the democratic process of republic Nepal. There seems an urgent need of political reconciliation among all the political and non political actors to save the nation from plunging into complete political disaster.
Holding another CA does not make any sense keeping in view of its past experiences and requirement of enormous amount of budget. The time is running out fast for the political parties to win the hearts of the general public.
Rai Biren Bangdel
Maharjgunj, Kathmandu
