Chairman of the Constituent Assembly (CA) Subash Chandra Nembang has made a strong appeal to all political parties to shun partisan interests and sincerely engage in the job of consensus building for the timely promulgation of the constitution and restoration of peace. Talking to a delegation of Press Chautari Nepal the other day, CA chair Nembang said that the new constitution must address the concerns of all sections of the society for which the political parties must act with utmost sincerity. But the first is to ensure that the statute would be promulgated within the stipulated time. The CA chair is absolutely right that the constitution writing and peace process are the main priorities of the country for which the parties must invest all their strength and energy. We have now only a fortnight to complete the historic task of constitution writing. The constitution writing task can be accomplished within this short period only if all the parties in general and four major political forces in particular cooperate and collaborate with each other.

The country is in transition for more than four years since the peace process began. In the beginning, it had been expected that the transitional would be over in two years. But it showed signs of prolongation right from the beginning, which is attributed to parties’ partisan agenda. Although recently they seem to be more serious, they have not yet given up the partisan interests, which has further complicated the problem. It is certain that the country would fall into a dreadful political and constitutional crisis if the constitution is not promulgated by May 27 deadline. Most of the issues relating to constitution have already been resolved. But the crux of the problem is related to the form of governance and restructuring of the state. The parties have their own stance and position on these two key issues. A middle path has, therefore, been necessary in order to ensure the promulgation of the new constitution in time.

Time is running short and it would not be wise to waste more time just for the sake of dispute. If the country is to be saved from sliding into more serious crisis, the Constituent Assembly must come up with a new constitution. Parties may have reservations on certain issues but they should find a middle-way which would pave the way for the promulgation of the constitution in time. The reservations of the parties can be addressed in future through amendments in the constitution for which there should be ample room. The global experiences have shown that no constitution is complete and perfect in the original form. Many constitutions in the world were made perfect only through timely amendments. We can also follow this process and the statute can be improved in future through amendments even if there are reservations and grudges from any quarter regarding any provision.