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Nepal starts process to draft constitution on majority basis amid opposition protest

Xinhua, February 1, 2015 Adjust font size:

A committee formed by Nepal's Constituent Assembly (CA) has formally started the task of writing a new constitution on the basis of majority amid the protest from the opposition parties.

The Questionnaire Committee formed last week has started to prepare questions on contentious issues of the new constitution. The formulated questions will be put in vote in CA to settle them on the basis of numerical strength after the parties failed to settle them.

The two key opposition parties UCPN (Maoist) and Madhes-based parties have boycotted the meeting of the committee, saying that they would not attend any majority process.

The opposition parties are saying that disputed issues should be settled through a consensus among parties. The ruling parties Nepali Congress and CPN-UML command two-third votes required to pass the constitution on the basis of two-third votes.

The first meeting of the Questionnaire Committee on Saturday had formed a sub-committee to prepare terms of Reference and it started the task from Sunday.

Ruling party leaders have claimed that the process of the statute drafting will not obstruct the consensus effort. They have also said there would be rooms for the consensus till the eleventh hour of the constitution drafting.

"CA and its committees are appropriate places to forge consensus on contents of the new constitution so the opposition parties should join the meeting," Nepali Congress Joint General Secretary Purna Bahadur Khadka told reporters.

But the opposition front is not ready to sit for talks or to be a part of the committee unless the ruling parties make a commitment that constitution would be drafted on the basis of consensus.

"We can not sit for dialogue or be parts of the Questionnaire Committee until the ruling parties provide a leeway," said UCPN ( Maoist) leader Agni Prasad Sapkota.

As the ruling parties are determined to push the majority approach in the constitution drafting, the opposition parties are preparing to hit the street demanding a consensus approach.

The UCPN (Maoist) is preparing to hit the street. A meeting of UCPN (Maoist) on Sunday decided to deploy its leaders in the various districts for the purpose of mobilizing the movements. Endi