Lack Of Consensus Delaying Interim Statute: Aryal

Coordinator of the Interim Constitution Drafting Committee, Laxman Prasad Aryal, has said that the committee’s work is being delayed due to a lack of consensus among the seven-party alliance (SPA) and the Maoists on important issues.

Speaking at an interaction in the capital on Saturday, Aryal said that the committee has urged the parties concerned to come up with a common agreement on the basic framework of the Constitution.

"We need their consensus on major issues of the monarchy, alternative to the Parliament and citizenship. I hope they will definitely reach an agreement on the pressing issues even if it takes time," Aryal added.

Aryal said that the ruling alliance and the Maoists should form common stance on the political issues since a poorly formulated interim statute could impede the path to the constituent assembly elections.

"We can produce the draft as soon as the parties concerned strike an agreement on the important issues," he said.

He even warned that his committee would stop drafting the statute if the concerned parties could not reach an understanding.

Assuring that the SPA and the Maoists will come up with an agreement on major issues, Maoist leader Dina Nath Sharma, however, said the inclusion of the monarchy in the interim constitution is unacceptable. "We will not have any elements of the constitutional or ceremonial monarchy in the interim constitution," said Sharma.

Members of the committee Agni Kharel and Pushpa Bhusal said the interim constitution was being drafted in line with the accords between the ruling alliance and the Maoists as well as the proclamation of the parliament.