Kathmandu, May 20 :

Political and constitutional experts today said the election to the Constituent Assembly (CA) must be held as per the rule of law and the principles of political, socio-economic and legal constitutionalism.

They said the HoR declaration on May 18 must be made a part of the 1990 Constitution, which, they said, should be in effect until the new CA drafts a new one.

“We must head to CA polls as per the regulations of the existing constitution and the declaration of the revived HoR,” said former chief election commissioner Surya Prasad Shrestha, while presenting a paper amid a programme organised by the Nepal Council of World Affairs. He said the King’s proclamation on April 24 and the HoR’s declaration on May 18 were as per the 1990 Constitution.

Presenting his paper on the road to the CA polls and the restructuring of the State, legal expert Chandra Kant Gyawali stressed the need to incorporate all principles of constitutionalism in the CA election, which, he said, could be held on the basis of proportional representation.

Gyawali stressed the need to constitute a commission that ensures the election to constituent assembly is inclusive.

He also urged the government to form a constitutional court, like the one in South Africa, to provide the CA with constitutional and legal expertise. He said the South African model of the election to constituent assembly could be one of the models Nepal could adopt. But, in Nepal’s context, the model would require some modifications, he said.

Gyawali said principles of political, social, cultural, economic and legal constitutionalism must be followed in drafting a new constitution.

Commenting on the papers of Shrestha and Gyawali, former Bar Association President Radheshyam Adhikari said there are still some contentious issues that need to be sorted out before going for the CA polls.

He said the seven-party alliance, the Maoists and the civil society were yet to reach a consensus on whether to amend the existing constitution or to issue an interim statute before going to the constituent assembly and the stakeholders were yet to agree on the process of the assembly election.

The issues of federalism, secularism, language, citizenship certificates and self-determination would be the most contentious ones during the drafting of the new constitution, he said.

Another legal expert Devendra Lal Nepali stressed the need to proceed with the CA polls in a scientific manner, which can be achieved through geographic, population, and socio-economic distribution of communities. He also suggested the HoR should continue to give legitimacy to the government-Maoist talks.