Constitution turning into costly mirage for Nepal
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KATHMANDU: The call for a new constitution, by, for and of the people, that saw the Maoist guerrillas plunge the Hindu kingdom of Nepal into a 10-year civil war and led to the killing of over 17,000 people, is becoming a costly mirage with the government once again tacitly admitting on Tuesday that it would fail to promulgate the new charter eight days later.
Caretaker Prime Minister Jhala Nath Khanal, who was forced to resign this month for failing to ready the new constitution by May 28, sent his deputy, Finance Minister Bharat Mohan Adhikari, to register a proposal at the parliament secretariat on Tuesday. The government is seeking to amend the interim constitution and extend the Aug 31 deadline for enforcing the new constitution by three months more.
Getting the new constitution ready is increasingly turning a comedy of errors in the impoverished new republic which has been moving in the same groove, constantly repeating past mistakes. The three largest parties - the Maoists, Nepali Congress and communists - have been holding the nation hostage for almost three years with their cut-throat bargaining for power, inflicting untold hardship and misery on the people.
The jousting for power made them fail to get the new constitution ready in May 2010 and then, once more in May 2011. The same failure is certain to occur on Aug 31 and yet the parties have not grown any wiser. The power play led to the formation of a majority government in 2010 and then a second one in February this year. The collapse of both showed only an all-party consensus government could hope to push the becalmed peace process forward.
However, the indications are that the parties would fail yet again on Wednesday to name a consensus government and instead, would manoeuvre once more to form a majority government.
The decision to extend the constitutional deadline clashes with the judiciary. Nepal's Supreme Court had ruled that the parties cannot go on prolonging the timeframe for writing the new constitution and called the last two extensions illegal. Though the President, Dr Ram Baran Yadav, brought the order to the notice of the caretaker government, it has still gone ahead with the move, also ignoring the fact that the issue is sub judice.
The apex court has begun hearing from Monday a dispute about extending the constitutional deadline and while the case is in court, it is illegal to try extend the deadline.
Caretaker Prime Minister Jhala Nath Khanal, who was forced to resign this month for failing to ready the new constitution by May 28, sent his deputy, Finance Minister Bharat Mohan Adhikari, to register a proposal at the parliament secretariat on Tuesday. The government is seeking to amend the interim constitution and extend the Aug 31 deadline for enforcing the new constitution by three months more.
Getting the new constitution ready is increasingly turning a comedy of errors in the impoverished new republic which has been moving in the same groove, constantly repeating past mistakes. The three largest parties - the Maoists, Nepali Congress and communists - have been holding the nation hostage for almost three years with their cut-throat bargaining for power, inflicting untold hardship and misery on the people.
The jousting for power made them fail to get the new constitution ready in May 2010 and then, once more in May 2011. The same failure is certain to occur on Aug 31 and yet the parties have not grown any wiser. The power play led to the formation of a majority government in 2010 and then a second one in February this year. The collapse of both showed only an all-party consensus government could hope to push the becalmed peace process forward.
However, the indications are that the parties would fail yet again on Wednesday to name a consensus government and instead, would manoeuvre once more to form a majority government.
The decision to extend the constitutional deadline clashes with the judiciary. Nepal's Supreme Court had ruled that the parties cannot go on prolonging the timeframe for writing the new constitution and called the last two extensions illegal. Though the President, Dr Ram Baran Yadav, brought the order to the notice of the caretaker government, it has still gone ahead with the move, also ignoring the fact that the issue is sub judice.
The apex court has begun hearing from Monday a dispute about extending the constitutional deadline and while the case is in court, it is illegal to try extend the deadline.
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