Move to extend CA term draws flak

The Kathmandu Post

 KATHMANDU, Oct 2 – Civil society leaders and human rights activists have urged the government and the political parties not to extend term of the Constituent Assembly (CA), which has to promulgate the new constitution by May 10, 2010.

In a press statement issued on Thursday, human rights activists and civil society leaders have warned that the extension of CA’s term would jeopardize the peace process, pushing the task of constitution drafting to further uncertainty.

“The attempt to extend CA’s term is neither constitutional nor ethical. It is against the spirit of the Democratic Movement of 2006,” said a press release signed by rights activists, including former Speaker Daman Nath Dhungana, former Commissioners of National Human Rights Commission, Padma Ratna Tuladhar and Prof Kapil Shrestha and Dr Mathura Shrestha.

On Sept. 20, Sadbhawana Party (Anandidevi) lawmaker Sarita Giri had submitted a “non-governmental” amendment proposal to the CA secretariat seeking CA’s term extension. Article 68 of the Interim Constitution stipulates that CA’s term cannot be amended except “in the event that the task of drafting the constitution is not completed due to proclamation of State of Emergency in the country”.
“The lawmakers are unwilling to draft the constitution, so they have resorted to non-governmental amendment proposal to extend CA’s term indefinitely,” said Kapil Shrestha.

However, Giri, who tabled the amendment proposal, denies any ill-intention behind her move. “There is a serious flaw in the Interim Constitution that calls for amendment. Else, we will soon face a problem given the current trend of statute drafting,” Giri told the Post. She argues the current CA calendar is unrealistic in that it has allocated only a week to prepare the final draft of the new constitution out of reports submitted by different CA committees.

“Those parties which oppose the proposal to extend CA’s term have a hidden intent to pass the constitution in a hurry without giving enough time for discussion,” Giri charged