Roundup: Nepal's Koirala gov't completes first year in office amid uncertainty over new constitution

Amid uncertainty over the promulgation of the new constitution, Nepal's Sushil Koirala-led government has completed its first year in office on Tuesday.

The ruling parties, Nepali Congress and Communist Party of Nepal (United Marxist Leninist), have had mixed records in the past year, which are facing domestic criticisms as the Nepal's Constituent Assembly (CA) failed to deliver the constitution by the promised date.

With the support of the CPN (UML), chairman of the Nepali Congress Koirala was elected as the premier of the Himalayan Country on Feb. 10 last year through the Parliamentary election.

During the election, Koirala's party Nepali Congress and several parties had promised to produce preliminary draft of the new constitution within six months and full text of the constitution within one year, or by Jan. 22 this year.

But the government's efforts to bring the opposition parties on board the constitution drafting process has almost become futile, resulting in political stalemate in the country.

"We voted for the NC, hoping for the timely constitution. Unfortunately, the NC could do anything for us in the past year," a 55-year-old homemaker Kalpana Acharya in Kathmandu told Xinhua while commenting the government's performance.

During an interview with Xinhua, Nepal's Minister for General Administration Lal Babu Pandit, who belongs to the CPN (UML), insisted that the government is making utmost efforts to promulgate the new statute.

"The opposition UCPN (Maoist) and its allies did not budge from their stance on key debated issues of the new constitution such as federalism, system of governance, judiciary and electoral system. Our attempts to promulgate the new constitution on Jan. 22 turned futile due to the opposition' protests at the CA meeting," Pandit said.

He said that the ruling parties are still in favor of consensus- based constitution even though the voting process has already been initiated in the CA on key issues of the statute.

"Hydropower cooperation agreement signed between Nepal and India in August and the successful hosting of the 18th SAARC Summit in November should be taken as a big achievement of this government," Pandit said.

However, the opposition parties have described the government's one year in office as the "dark period". "It is a total failure of this Koirala-led government for failing to deliver the new constitution," Spokesperson of the opposition party UCPN Dinanath Sharma told Xinhua.

Citing prime minister's recent call on for talks with the opposition parties, Sharma said that they will not join the talks with ruling parties unless ongoing voting process in the CA is ended.

"Common people are reeling under basic problems such as price hike in petroleum products and all kinds of daily needs, shortage of electricity, among others," Sharma said.

But the ruling parties have also done some remarkable works in the past year. To make public administration more effective, the government started providing 12-hour services to the common people since Dec. 15 last year, up from the previous 8 hours of service.

"We are yet to do more for administrative reforms in our bureaucracy," Minister Pandit said. Endi