Statute amendment unlikely to end protests: Gurung

Kathmandu, February 17:

Maoist leader Dev Gurung said today that even the proposed amendment to the interim constitution was unlikely to satisfy the growing demands of the people, as the parties were yet to agree on a republican setup.

“Even the amendment is not going to address the problems. As far as I know, the amendment is not going to be clear on the modality of a federal system,” he said, addressing a programme at the Reporters’ Club.

“The problems will be solved only if the amendment to the interim constitution comes clean on the type of federalism we are talking about, on conducting the elections totally on the basis of proportional representation and representation on the basis of ethnic and regional autonomy,” he added.

“If the party leaders really want to amend the constitution for the benefit of the people, they must first come up with a clear vision on the federal system, the election process and the representation of the indigenous people, Madeshis, the women and others,” he said.

According to him, the amendment is a must because the interim constitution was passed just as a document of compromise, though a majority of parties had differences of opinion even before its announcement.

Dr Prakash Sharan Mahat of the NC-D said there were lots of things in the constitution that needed to be decided only through constituent assembly polls.

“The amendments to the constitution will uphold the spirit of the prime minister’s address to the nation,” he said.

Bhim Rawal of the CPN-UML said his party had suggested some changes before the interim constitution was announced. “Time has come to think about a federal system, and work out a truly proportional representation system through amendments to the constitution,” he said.

While, Laxman Aryal, the coordinator of the Interim Constitution Drafting Committee, said the amendments are unavoidable because the constitution itself was introduced on the condition that it will be amended soon.

“The constitution was introduced in haste because some factors wanted it introduced immediately to avoid bitter experience,” he said. He said the amendments came only in the areas, which the committee left blank for the parties to discuss.