KATHMANDU: The Constituent Assembly (CA) today passed the concept paper and preliminary report of the CA Committee on Structure of the Constitutional Bodies along with suggestions and direction and sent it to the constitution-drafting Constitutional Committee for further consideration.

CA chairman Subas Chandra Nembang proposed that the complementary report of the Committee on Structure of the Constitutional Bodies be passed and sent to the Constitutional Committee along with suggestions and direction. The complementary report was passed unanimously.

The CA Committee on Structure of the Constitutional Bodies has proposed 11 constitutional commissions - existing five and six new ones - to be incorporated in the new constitution.

The existing constitutional commissions include the Election Commission, Public Service Commission, Office of the Auditors' General, which will be renamed as Accounts Commission, Commission for Investigation of the Abuse of Authority (CIAA) and National Human Rights Commission (NHRC).

The proposed six new constitutional commissions are related with women, Dalit, Madhesi, Muslim, Minorities and persons with Disability and Indigenous and Nationalities.

This is the second report submitted by the CA to the Constitutional Committee, which will incorporate its concept in the constitution.

The CA still has to submit reports of other nine CA committees but it has not been able to do so as the parties are yet to iron out their differences on key issues of these committee reports.

The 15-member report study team led by CPN-UML CA member Agni Kharel could not iron out the differences that appeared in the concept paper and preliminary report of the CA Committee on Structure of the Constitutional Bodies. The Kharel-panel suggested that the Constitutional Committee should decided on whether the six new constitutional commissions should be treated as separate bodies or they should be brought under an umbrella commission.

The CA full House unanimously passed the report of the Kharel-panel without voting. According to the CA regulations, the concept papers and preliminary reports of all the thematic committees should be tabled for voting to evolve a single view of the CA full House in case of no unanimity.

"But the CA full House did not abide by its own regulations and sent the conflicting views on the structure of the constitutional bodies to the Constitutional Committee," said UML CA member Ram Nath Dhakal.

He said the CA full House could not send reports of the thematic committees to the Constitutional Committee giving a number of options if its regulations were to be adhered to.

Dhakal said the House should have gone for voting to decide on whether the proposed six new commissions should be brought under an umbrella commission or they should be treated as separate bodies as proposed by the committee.

"The CA full House violated its own regulations by not opting for voting in favour of or against the umbrella commission or separate commissions for the six new ones," Dhakal said. He said the even the main opposition, Unified CPN-Maoist, did not pay attention towards the "lapses" made from the CA chair.