Kathmandu, February 12:

Members of the Legislative Parliament today urged the government to table the Bill to amend the Interim Constitution of Nepal 2007 as promised by Prime Minister Girija Prasad Koirala in his second address to the nation.

“The government should be serious about amending the Constitution,” Nepali Congress (Democratic) MP Minendra Rijal said. He also urged the government to be serious about addressing the concerns of the Madhesis, Janajatis and wom-en. Speaking during the special hour of today’s session, the MPs demanded that the government amend the Interim Constitution as soon as possible.

CPN-UML MP Raghuji Panta called the government to work to restructure the state mechanism. Without restructuring, it will be difficult to resolve present crisis, he said, calling the government to conduct a “scientific study to restructure the nation”. MP Govinda Bikram Shah called the government to take the demands of the Madhesis, Janajatis and women seriously. “If the government wants to address the demands, why is it not working quickly,” he asked.

Jana Morcha Nepal MP Leelamani Pokhrel called the seven-party alliance and the Maoists to settle political issues and make conducive environment to hold Constituent Assembly polls. Accusing some ministers of hatching conspiracies to postpone the CA elections, he said, “That is why they have been delaying the process of promulgation of laws as demanded by the Election Commission.”

Lawmaker Nanda Kumar Prasain called the government to send a team of MPs to look into the Terai situation and to punish those mentioned in the Rayamajhi panel report.

MP Iliyas Musalman called the government to declare those killed during the Terai movement martyrs.

However, MPs Prakash Jwala, Gorakh Bahadur Bogati, NP Saud and Sher Dhan Rai called the government to focus on resolving problems of the people living in hilly districts, saying the latter have also been suffering from several problems. The people living in the hilly districts have been facing problems of lack of education, sufficient food and medical service.