Congress and UML, the two ruling parties that said they would form a task force to carry forward the task of amending the constitution, have not been able to form a task force even after a month has passed since the announcement. While the two big parties formed the government by advancing the main agenda of constitutional amendment.
Congress and UML agreed on 7 points of power cooperation on the midnight of June 17 by making the main agenda of constitutional amendment. The two parties, which have built a political mechanism to advance this consensus, decided to form a working group on January 11th.
The winter session of the Federal Parliament is starting from Friday. Although the government is increasing its activity to pass the bills and ordinances in the parliamentary committee quickly, the two party alliance has not been able to proceed to the discussion on the constitutional amendment.
The mechanism decided to form three working groups to work towards the amendment of the constitution, the study of the bill and the speedy progress of the bill stuck in the parliamentary committee . Although the other two working groups are working on new bills and bills stuck in the parliamentary committees, the members of the working group announced for the amendment of the constitution have not been appointed yet.
Minister of Home Affairs Ramesh Ukhar said that in principle, it has been decided to form a working group between the two parties and the members will be selected within a few days. At the initial stage, it has been agreed to form a working group of only two parties and start discussions. The issue of who will be in the working group has not been concluded,' said the writer, 'we will also conclude this immediately .
UML Secretary Yogesh Bhattarai said that the amendment of the constitution should be done on the basis of all-party consensus, so there is no haste in it. He said that after the working group formed between the two ruling parties sets the agenda for revision, there will be a discussion with other parties about it. In principle, the matter of forming a working group between the two parties has been agreed upon, and some daily representatives will also be sent. There is no hurry as there are still two and a half years left in the term of the Parliament,'' he said, ``there has been no discussion on which issues to amend.'' Discussions will begin as soon as the working group is completed. In the first stage, we will discuss with the other parties after the discussion between the ruling parties.'
The main subject of the seven-point agreement made between the two parties on June 17 for power cooperation was the subject of constitutional amendment. In point number 2 of the consensus, it is mentioned that "the government of national consensus will review the strengths and weaknesses and complexities that have emerged in practice after the implementation of the constitution and give priority to the necessary amendments to the constitution and the creation of appropriate laws for political stability".
Even after 6 and a half months of government formation, the discussion on this issue has not progressed . According to an official of the Congress, the opposition parties are divided and the National Assembly is not in a position to reach two-thirds in favor of the ruling coalition, and the delay is happening. Even if the discussion is started, the constitution will not be amended tomorrow. If the opposition parties do not come to an agreement, the necessary arithmetic for the amendment of the constitution by the National Assembly will not be sufficient . Therefore, let's not rush,' he said.
