Kathmandu, August 1:

The Central Working Committee (CWC) meeting of the Nepali Congress (NC) ended inconclusively today although discussion had got under way on a draft of the interim statute presented by a party panel. The meeting will resume tomorrow .

The party has to finalise the draft to be given over to the Interim Constitution Drafting Committee (ICDC). The NC is the only major party which has not done it, thus delaying the completion of the interim constitution.

The main issue the party is sorting out is what should be the status of the monarch once the interim constitution is enforced and the overall nature of the interim statute itself. Yet another issue is the disarming of the Maoist rebels.

“The main issue is how should the new statute reflect the aspiration of the people who were part of the mass movement “ said NC leader Narahari Acharya. He said this based on today’s business in the CWC .

“To this effect the constitution will well and truly reflect the people guiding the constitutional process rather than a monarch, as in the past,” Acharya said , adding “it will be a different constitution than those before.”

The party is expected to suggest a different electoral system which could be a mix of the current and the system of proportional representation. “We may go for a system which could be a mix of the current and the proportional representation system,” he said.

The party is expected to tell the UN team that “arms management is central to the issue and the new government should not have rebels on board as long as they do not agree to management of arms.”

Prime Minister Girija Prasad Koirala is of the view that “the process of decommissioning will be true to the 8- point agreeemnt and that the parliament will be dissolved only after election to a constituent assembly is held.”

This suggests that the NC will advocate a view that the letter and spirit of the 8-point deal demands dissolving the parliament only after a constituent assembly is elected.