Kathmandu, October 22:

There is an urgent need to amend the Interim Constitution of Nepal 2007 for the third time following the postponement of the constituent assembly elections slated for November 22, say experts.

However, authorities concerned have not initiated homework to amend the statute, though experts have been calling for the removal of several “odd” provisions from the constitution through an amendment process. The experts have taken the preamble of the constitution and various Articles, which call for consensus between the political parties to run the government, parliament and local bodies, as odd provisions that must be removed.

Preamble of the constitution and Article 38, 45, 139 and 144 require political consensus between the Nepali Congress, CPN (UML), Nepali Congress (Democratic), Janamorcha Nepal, Nepal Sadbhavana Party (Anandidevi), Nepal Majdur Kisan Party, Samyukta Bam Morcha Nepal and the CPN (Maoist) to run organs of the state and reform the Nepali Army.

“There is a need to amend the constitution following the deferral of the elections and the unification of the Nepali Congress and Nepali Congress (Democratic),” constitutional lawyer Bhimarjun Acharya said.

Article 33 (a) states that the CA elections should be held by December 15. Considering this provision, the government had fixed November 22 as the date for the elections after the second amendment to the constitution. The upcoming amendment will be the third amendment to the nine month-old constitution, which was promulgated on January 15. “The prevailing political situation has necessitated constitutional amendment, but we have not got any directives from ‘above’ to draft the amendment bill,” secretary of the Prime Minister’s Office (PMO) and Cabinet, Madhav Paudel, told this daily today.

“May be the work will start once the political parties reach consensus to fix a new date for the elections,” Paudel added.

Asked when the government will introduce an amendment bill in the parliament, an official at the parliament secretariat said he had no idea. Former vice-president of the Nepal Bar Association Sher Bahadur KC said, “There are several odd provisions that should not have been incorporated in the constitution. It will be better to remove them through amendment.”

“The provision governing the conduct of elections by December 15 and requirement of political consensus for the functioning of the government and parliament are odd provisions of the constitution. They should be removed as soon as possible,” KC said.