Kathmandu, June 24 :

Coordinator of the interim statute drafting committee and former Supreme Court judge Laxman Prasad Aryal said today the panel would draft the interim constitution as per the spirit of the 12-point understanding and the people’s movement, the declaration of the revived House of Representatives and the mandate given by the eight-point agreement reached between the government and the Maoists.

Releasing a book Samunnat Nepal Ko Khaka authored by Jagat Bahadur Thapa, Aryal said the interim statute would institutionalise the people’s voice expressed through the Jana Andolan.

He said the statute draft panel would start work after it receives an official letter from the government tomorrow.

Saying that the goal of the new constitution is to empower the people, Aryal said the election to a constituent assembly should be held in a peaceful manner to institutionalise the achievements of the movement.

“The 1990 movement empowered the political parties, but the 2006 revolution should empower the people in the real sense,” said Aryal, who was also a member of the 1990 constitution drafting committee.

Senior lawyer Sindhunath Pyakurel, also a member of the interim statute drafting committee, said the 12-point understanding between the seven-party alliance and the Maoists last November was an unprecedented event in Nepal’s history and both sides agreed to the fact that the monarchy was the common enemy of people’s empowerment.

“Foreign forces wanted the parliamentary forces to make an alliance with the monarchy but it did not happen due to the people’s protest,” Pyakurel said, adding that the parties-Maoist alliance became possible as both sides wanted to transfer power to the people.

Lawyer Harihar Dahal, who is also a member of the interim statute drafting committee, said that the interim constitution which would remain as a legitimate document until a new constitution is made would also give indications of the new constitution.

A major challenge of the interim statute, he said, is to institutionalise the HoR declaration that clipped the King’s wings.

He said that the the interim statute would be made, seeking suggestions from the people and that it would be ready within the stipulated timeframe.