Kathmandu, April 24:

Senior leader of the CPN-Maoist Dinanath Sharma said today that the government was preparing to promulgate an Ordinance to administer the oath of office and secrecy to the newly elected members of the Constituent Assembly.

“We have been doing necessary preparations to promulgate an ordinance to remove hurdles to convene the CA meeting,” Sharma said. He said the government authorities were preparing to formulate other necessary procedures for the smooth conduct of the CA meeting. He also added that the first CA meeting would pass important decisions including the formation of a new government and abolition of monarchy.

Sharma claimed that the new government under the Maoist leadership would table the republican agenda in the first sitting of the CA. Sharma said the eldest member of the CA would chair the first meeting, which would then elect a chairman of the assembly.

Senior advocate Bishwa Kant Mainali said the Constitution did not allow any political party to sit in the opposition and called the political parties to participate in the government for the success of the constitution making process. Mainali added that the CA could do everything as a sovereign body except reducing its own size.

Advocate Bhimarjun Acharya, however, said the CA couldn’t meet till 26 members were

nominated.

Saying that the UML was in favour of letting the Maoists run the government, UML leader Pradip Gyawali said his party would decide soon whether or not to join the next government. NC leader Narayan Khadka also said his party would take a decision on joining the new government only after watching the policy of the Maoist. However, party’s youth leader Gagan Thapa bluntly opposed the idea of NC joining the next government.

Civil society leader Dr Sunder Mani Dixit called the political parties to join the government under the Maoist leadership. “Sitting out would be perceived nothing more than attempting to fail the government,” he added.