Emerging scenarios post-CA

HIMALAYAN NEWS SERVICE

KATHMANDU: As things stand, four scenarios are likely to develop.

The political leadership engaged in marathon talks to sort out statute issues wrapped their talks in the evening – somewhat nervous about the developing scenario, angry and pointing fingers at each other, and perhaps, frustrated that their myopic vision would cost the country a lot.

By the time they wrapped up negotiations they seemed to have given up the bid to evolve consensus on issues related to federalism, including number, demarcations and the names of provinces to be carved out.

According to Senior Advocate Harihar Dahal, one of the framers of the Interim Constitution, the President and the Vice President will remain until promulgation of a new Constitution but the Bhattarai-led government’s legitimacy will be challenged in case the CA is dissolved.

He argued that even if the constitution is promulgated in haste without letting the public and the representatives debate the constitutional issues, the question of ownership of the statute might arise.

Advocate Hari Krishna Karki said executive powers will be shifted to the President if the CA is dissolved. The President will then have to call all the political parties to form consensus government.

Raman Kumar Shrestha said If they cannot promulgate the Constitution, the CA and the House will be dissolved automatically and all constitutional bodies including the office of the President might be in question.

However, in case of deadlock, political parties may agree on common grounds to keep alive the Legislature-Parliament even if the Constituent Assembly is dissolved, which means at least a draft constitution will have to be issued before the May 27 deadline collapses on Sunday mid-night. In this case the CA, which will completely transform itself into a full-fledged parliament — albeit an interim one — will be expected to give lawmakers the privilege that the CA gave them: right to cross the floor when it comes to voting on crucial constitutional issues.

In the event that political parties fail to agree on keeping the CA alive in the capacity of interim parliament, both President and the Prime Minister will function as caretaker heads of state and government, respectively. This situation could be rather unfortunate because both would most likely exploit the vacuum to gain control of power. The no-trust motion, which NC and UML are mulling, could be used to undermine the incumbent government’s legitimacy as national consensus government. But, this is a scenario least likely to develop as political parties are still engaged negotiations to find a resolution.