Kathmandu, May 24

Speaker Agni Prasad Sapkota urged political parties to forge consensus on the constitution amendment bill that the government had registered on Friday seeking to amend Schedule 3 of the constitution to include revised map of Nepal in the coat of arms.

According to Sapkota’s Press Secretary Shreedhar Neupane, the speaker made the remark after some members of the Business Advisory Committee urged him to play his role to forge consensus on the constitution amendment bill. BAC members Laxman Lal Karana and Uma Shankar Argariya, who represent Janata Samajwadi Party-Nepal,  told the committee today that the constitution should also be amended to address demands of Madhesis, Janajatis and other marginalised communities, along with amending Schedule 3.

“Almost half the population of the country observed the Constitution Day as black day to express dissatisfaction with the constitution. This occasion to amend Schedule 3 of the constitution should also be used to address legitimate demands of Madhesis and Janajatis,” Argariya added.  He said the government should call an all-party meeting to discuss constitution amendment issues.  “There was a four-point agreement among political parties who expressed commitment to amend the constitution to address demands of Madhes. Only the former CPN-UML was opposed to the agreement. I think parties can build consensus along the lines of the same agreement,” Argariya added.

The speaker told BAC members that it was imperative that the Parliament voted unitedly in favour of such an important   government bill that sought to amend the country’s map in the coat of arms to reflect the country’s actual territory.  The speaker also assured BAC members that he would also meet the prime minister and convey their message about the need for building national consensus on the constitution amendment bill.

Business advisory committees of the House of Representatives and the National Assembly also decided today to change the logo of the Federal Parliament and badges of lawmakers to reflect Nepal’s actual map.

The government revised the country’s map recently incorporating Limpiyadhura, Lipulekh and Kalapani.

According to the BAC decision, the logo printed on the rostrum of the two houses and the map printed on lawmakers’ badges will be changed to reflect Nepal’s actual territory.

Spokesperson for the Parliament Secretariat Dasharath Dhamala said the secretariat would change the Federal Parliament’s logos before the next meeting of the Parliament, but it would take a few days more to change badges of 334 lawmakers.

Recently the government issued a new map depicting Limpiyadhura, Lipulekh and Kalapani as Nepal’s territories. India has political and administrative control over these territories and claims all three to be part of India.

A version of this article appears in e-paper on May 25, 2020, of The Himalayan Times.