APR 19, 2012 KATHMANDU – Power struggling between parties to rise their agenda and have their way of constitution to be drafted in near future are going on. Political parties in Nepal have their own views, agendas and beliefs of running the country politically but The two opposition parties, Nepali Congress and CPN-UML, have agreed to come up with a common position on unresolved issues of constitution writing so as to sit for final negotiations with the Maoists. The two parties also agreed to go for a non-ethnic federalism, while favoring six to eight provinces.
Leaders said both the parties will make their stance on the constitution common just as they did while taking ahead the PLA integration process.
The parties have intensified bilateral talks as they have conflicting views on key issues like federalism, forms of governance, electoral system, judicial system and citizenship.
“We discussed a wide range of issues of the new constitution, but could not come up with a concrete decision,” said senior UML leader Madhav Kumar Nepal after a round of bilateral meeting in Singha Durbar.
On Wednesday, Nepal, UML Chairman Jhala Nath Khanal, Vice-Chairman Bam Dev Gautam and NC’s Parliamentary Party leader Ram Chandra Poudel and General Secretary Prakash Man Singh, among others, discussed the sticking points. The leaders are likely to come up with a common stand on the issues in another round of meeting scheduled for Thursday.
“We will make public our common stand after re-discussing the matters,” said NC leader Arjun Narsingh KC.
Of the total unresolved issues of constitution writing, the NC and UML also have conflicting views on the federal model, the number of federal states, naming and bordering. They have proposed six to eight provinces in the new federal set-up based on identity and capability. The Maoist party, however, has not given up it demand for an identity-based federalism.
On forms of governance, the NC that has been officially advocating for a parliamentary system has indicated it may go for a fixed model or a directly-elected presidential system. The UML is in favour of a directly-elected prime minister as head of government and a ceremonial president.
Source: KOL
