Nembang warns leaders of chaos

ARJUN BHANDARI

KATHMANDU: Constituent Assembly (CA) Chairman Subas Nembang today met leaders of the four political forces at the Prime Minister’s official residence in Baluwatar twice and told them that the country would plunge into yet another phase of ‘confrontation’ if the new constitution was not adopted by tomorrow.

“I met them collectively in Baluwatar and communicated the concerns of the people, country and CA members, who were elected to draw up a new constitution,” Nembang said.

Nembang raised a number of questions before the leaders regarding the issues of federalism. What will you do if you fail to promulgate the constitution by tomorrow? What are the alternatives for addressing the constitutional vacuum that may arise after Sunday? How do you justify the time and money spent and work carried out by CA members in the last four years if you fail to adopt the statute? These were some serious questions Nembang raised before leaders, who had no answers.

This is the first time in four years that the CA chairman has intervened in a meeting of parties and cautioned them that the country would face unprecedented political crisis and communal and regional confrontation in the absence of the new constitution.

UCPN-Maoist Chairman Pushpa Kamal Dahal is said to have told him that they were also “serious about the emerging situation”.

Nembang is learnt to have warned leaders that the situation would become so chaotic that it would go out of their hands and anarchy would prevail in the country.

He is also said to have told them that it would be unfortunate that the new constitution could not be promulgated simply because the parties were at odds only over the single issue of federalism.

Nembang had earlier suggested that the parties could promulgate the new constitution by integrating the already settled issues, leaving the unsettled ones to the transitional parliament to sort them out.

As the Interim Constitution is silent about the post-May 27 scenario, all the elected institutions, including Prime Minister and President who were elected by the Legislature-Parliament and CA, respectively, would be reduced to a caretaker status in case there is no constitution in place.

NC CA member Ramesh Lekhak said the dissatisfaction people and communities have can be addressed gradually over time after adoption of the constitution by the CA.

The CPN-UML leadership also held a consultative meeting of legal eagles in the afternoon. The legal experts told the leaders that the “situation would become chaotic and politics would go out of control”.

Asked what would happen if the new constitution could not be adopted by tomorrow, Surendra Mahato, vice-chairman of Nepal Bar Association, dismissed the NC and UML assertion and added that the government would work in the capacity of a caretaker one, which would also hold fresh CA election.