Nepal may get first draft of constitution in two weeks: leaders

If things go as planned, the earthquake-stricken Nepalese people will get a first draft of the new constitution within next 15 days, Nepali leaders has said.

A week after Nepal's major parties hammered out a 16-point deal to resolve contentious issues concerning the new constitution including federalism, a committee under the Constituent Assembly ( CA) started its tasks for preparing the initial draft of the new constitution on Sunday itself. The committee is mandated to produce the initial draft of the new constitution within next 15 days in line with the 16-point deal reached among Nepal's parties.

The constitution-making body of Neal, the Constituent Assembly, tasked the Drafting Committee of preparing a draft of the new constitution following the Political Dialogue and Consensus Committee of the CA submitted a report on the agreement.

President of the Constitution Drafting Committee, Krishna Prasad Sitaula told reporters "We will try our best to forge maximum consensus and show flexibility among political parties who are inside the Constituent Assembly for constitution promulgation. "

Sitaula, a former minister, who represents the Nepali Congress, the largest party in the Nepal's 598-member CA, was upbeat over bringing the first draft of the new statute within 15 days.

Ending huge differences on the naming and mapping of federal provinces to be incorporated in the new constitution, the major parties struck the deal in view of ensuring a new constitution on June 8.

"This was a historical deal among parties after the formation of the first Constituent Assembly in 2008. Now we are gearing up for bringing the first draft of the statute with the stipulated time frame," Deputy General Secretary, Bishnu Poudel, who represents in the Constituent Assembly from the ruling United Communist Party of Nepal (Marxist-Leninist), told Xinhua.

Major parties of Nepal ended around eight years of deadlock over contentious issues of the post-monarchy constitution. Nepali Congress, CPN-UML, UCPN (Maoist) and Madhesi People's Rights Forum- Democratic leaders forge the deal to go for an eight-province federal model and parliamentary system of governance in the to-be- adopted new constitution.

"We are making utmost efforts to bring the first draft of the statue within next 15 days. This would do its best incorporating the voices of marginalized people," UCPN (Maoist) Vice President Narayan Kaji Shrestha said.

Such an understanding among the major political forces remained a rare show of unity following the devastating earthquakes in Nepal on April 25 and May 12 which claimed over 9,000 lives, 22, 000 injured, destroyed more than 500,000 homes, affecting 2.8 million people of the Himalayan country.

If the new constitution is promulgated within next two weeks, this would be the country's first full-fledged constitution after Nepal became Democratic Republic in 2008. The 10-year-long conflict between the government and the then rebel Maoists ended with the signing of the Peace Accord in 2006 when the Maoists agreed to join the mainstream politics.

The first CA failed to deliver the new constitution and dissolved in May 2013 amid sharp differences among the parties on the key contentious issues to be adopted through the new constitution including that of federalism.

According to a recent Post Disaster Needs Assessment carried out by the National Planning Commission of Nepal, the earthquake- ravaged Nepal is going to request the international donors to support a reconstruction plan that is expected to cost 6.6 billion U.S. dollars over five years. As per the NPC, losses to the economy from Nepal's worst disaster on record stood at 7 billion dollars including from tourism, education and industry. Endi