Unfair provision:

It seems that the government, now composed of eight political parties, including the CPN-Maoist, and the Election Commission (EC) are behaving in a very undemocratic manner. It has now been said that except for the eight parties in the government at present, all the others have to submit a list of at least 10,000 voters’ signatures to register their party withthe EC. Why should there be different rules for different parties? This is unfair. This also shows that the eight ruling parties don’t want other parties to compete in the constituent assembly elections. Over the past few years, smaller parties have not been able to go to the villages to popularise their programmes. So they are facing tough time collecting the required signatures. Moreover, those people who support these smaller parties are hesitant to sign for fear of reprisals at the hands of the Maoists, especially in the remote places. Such an undemocratic decision should be done away with.

Navin Nepal, via e-mail

Keep it:

The provision of parliamentary hearing for certain high-level government appointees was created to institutionalise meritocracy in governance to reflect the popular will. However, narrowing the scope of this provision by exempting, for instance, ambassadorial appointments, shows that the political leaders are not interested in good governance, which would affect their narrow partisan or personal interests. The proposed amendment to the Interim Constitution on parliamentary hearing would only encourage nepotism and favouritism and may reward the corrupt as they could buy ambassadorial posts with money as in the past.

Ramesh B Shrestha, Lalitpur

Mere rush:

The main objective of the government is, no doubt, the holding of free and fair constituent assembly (CA) polls by June. But the Election Commission, UN agencies, some diplomats and experts believe that it is next to impossible to have the elections on time. The general atmosphere outside the Valley is not at all conducive to the polls. Proper rules and regulations are yet to be formulated. Then we have political factions in the Tarai like the JTMMs and the MJF that are hell-bent on disrupting the polls. Ironically, the majority of the people do not even understand what CA polls are all about. So, rushing to the polls without proper homework would be an unwise decision.

Saurav Sharma, via e-mail

Other option:

I am confused why the eight party leaders, led by the aging Prime Minister Koirala, are bent on holding the CA polls on June 20, though many think it is not possible. They should look for an alternative. If the polls are not possible on schedule, wouldn’t it be better if the Interim Parliament declared itself a de facto constituent assembly and drafted an inclusive republican constitution that would incorporate the aspirations of all Nepalis? Then this draft could be put to a national referendum on June 20. This would also satisfy all those who have been calling for a referendum.

Ravi Manandhar, Kathmandu