Kathmandu, February 17

Chances of revising the report prepared by the Local Bodies Restructuring Commission are slim, as LBRC has only three weeks left to complete its remaining tasks.

LBRC member Neeraj Shah said technically it would be difficult to change any content of LBRC’s report. The government task force formed to study LBRC report submitted its report yesterday, suggesting to increase number of local bodies in Province 2.

As per the constitution, the commission has to submit a report on special, protected and autonomous regions, structure of public administration in federal model and economic feasibility of federal units by March 13.

“How can we rework the number and boundaries of local bodies, when we have other enormous tasks to complete?” Shah wondered.  According to him, the government cannot change the report on its own and can only send the report back to LBRC for revision giving its suggestions.

The government will have to assign new terms of reference to the commission if it wants any changes in LBRC’s report. He said the commission would then hold  discussion in districts of Province 2, something it could not do  earlier while preparing the report on the number and boundaries of the local bodies due to opposition from agitating Madhesi forces.

Shah said there were other hurdles in revising LBRC’s report — tenure of LBRC would have to be extended, for that the constitution would have to be amended, which meant that local polls could not be held by mid-May or mid June.  Moreover political turmoil that prevented the commission from holding discussion at the local level still persists in Province 2.

We’ve other enormous tasks to complete before March 13

“What is the guarantee that all parties will agree to the new ToR for LBRC and to increase number of local bodies in Province 2?” another LBRS member Sunil Ranjan Singh wondered. He said LBRC was under no compulsion to obey the government’s directives and political consensus was needed to assign additional ToR to LBRC. In its report, the government panel said it would be better to increase number of local bodies to address grievances of the agitating forces, including Madhesi, over LBRC’s report.

The Prime Minister’s Political Adviser Chakrapani Khanal said the PM was aware of the complexities involved in the revision of LBRC report and that’s why the government wanted to either hold local polls as per LBRC’s report or defer the polls after reaching an understanding with the political forces.

Another alternative can be to hold parliamentary polls before other polls as demanded by the agitating Madhesi parties, Khanal added. But that can be

done if other parties agreed, he added.