Parties to bring dead CA back to life‚ says Prachanda

GAURAV BHATTARAI

KATHMANDU: UCPN-Maoist Chairman Pushpa Kamal Dahal, aka, Prachanda asserted that political stakeholders are inching closer to bring back to life the disbanded Constituent Assembly ( CA ) .

“ Parties will reach to consensus on resurrecting CA by mid-November,” affirmed the former prime minister Dahal speaking at a conference of UCPN-M aligned People's Progressive Forum in Belgium.

“Parties are opting for CA revival finding it better than heading to poll,” said Prachanda while two major opposition parties—the Nepali Congress(NC), and the CPN-UML are still undeclared about the fate of CA.

Despite the recent decision taken by CPN-UML's Standing Committee meeting to push for a fresh mandate to draft the constitution rather than falling into the labyrinth of reviving the dissolved CA, NC is still divided whether to reinstate the dissolved CA or to focus on polls.

Koirala camp led by NC President Sushil Koirala is pushing for fresh polls while Deuba camp led by Sher Bahadur Deuba has displayed its preference to reinstate CA.

Nepali Congress(NC) senior leader Sher Bahadur Deuba and Vice president Ram Chandra Paudel even held parleys with former speakers and lawmakers for the resurgence of the disbanded CA only to rile Koirala.

Even Prachanda had held series of talks with NC President Koirala as an endeavour to persuade the latter on the matter.

If to mull over the pros and cons of the Constituent Assembly reinstatement, for Deuba and Paudel , CA revival is imperative for the promulgation of the statute once parties agree on the contentious issues attached to federalism, the thorniest issue in the statute yet to be promulgated.

Earlier last month, the four major political parties—UCPN-M, NC, CPN-UML and UDMF had agreed to go for fresh poll to elect a new CA, which actually exhibits the practice of political uncertainties afflicting the country since the demise of CA on May 27 without issuing a new statute.

When the NC pitched for CA revival earlier , Dahal was in favour of holding polls and when NC along with the CPN-UML also gave the nod to Dahal’s proposal, Prachanda is now pressing for reviving the CA.

Prachanda is on a weeklong trip to Europe.

He left leaving for Belgium when only six days were remaining to meet the deadline pledged by parties to President to reach to an understanding over contentious issues .

Earlier, leaders from major political parties had committed to President Dr Ram Baran Yadav to find a way-out on ending the current impasse by October 16.