PM Dahal to sit with Deuba and Oli today to finalise draft

Constitution amendment

Nov 13, 2016- Prime Minister Pushpa Kamal Dahal will register a constitution amendment proposal in Parliament after discussing the final draft with the Nepali Congress and CPN-UML leadership, according to PM Dahal’s Press Adviser Govinda Acharya.

PM Dahal on Friday told mediapersons that the government would table the amendment proposal “within four days”. PM Dahal, NC chief Sher Bahadur Deuba and UML Chair KP Sharma Oli are expected to hold separate meetings on Sunday, said Acharya. “After holding separate talks, the top leaders will sit together to finalise the draft,” he added.

The delay in registering the amendment proposal has irked the agitating Madhes-based parties, which have even warned of withdrawing their support to the government and launching fresh protests, prompting PM Dahal to explore different options.

For PM Dahal to make his next move, the UML, which has so far maintained a rigid stance on constitution amendment, has to come on board the process. In recent days, Dahal has been claiming that he “will come up with such a proposal that even the UML cannot reject it”.

But Acharya said the UML has maintained such a rigid position that it seems reluctant to accept an earlier proposal on which it had agreed.

Asked whether the proposal will have provision[s] allowing naturalised citizens to hold constitutional positions other than President, prime minister, chief justice and chiefs of the security bodies, Acharya claimed that the issue of naturalised citizens holding constitutional positions was neither the agenda of the Madhesi forces nor the Maoist Centre.

During a meeting between Dahal and Deuba at Baluwatar on Saturday morning, the duo discussed ways to resolve the row over provincial boundaries.

Since the UML has expressed strong objection to the demand of the Madhes-based parties on redrawing of provincial boundaries, PM Dahal is likely to come up with his own proposal that he had prepared before the promulgation of the constitution.