Kathmandu, Apr 17:

UCPN-Maoist chairman Pushpa Kamal Dahal ‘Prachanda’ Tuesday said that the political parties would be able to forge consensus within a few days as an environment of trust was created among them.

Speaking at a sit-in of the lawmakers at the State Affairs Committee Hall, chairman Prachanda said that the environment of trust lately created among the parties would be helpful to forge such a consensus. He also said that a favorable environment was in place to write the new constitution.

He said that army integration, one of the major tasks of the peace process, had concluded and the leaders were working seriously to conclude the constitution writing tasks.

The lawmakers launched the sit-in as a campaign to exert pressure for peace and constitution writing.

The UCPN-Maoist chair said the constitution should be promulgated with the due process if political consensus was elusive.

The activities of the past two days had shown that all political parties were very serious in making efforts for peace and constitution writing, he said.

"However, some issues connected with the peace process such as formation of the Commission on Truth and Reconciliation, the Commission on Enforced Disappearances are yet to be settled," he noted.

Dahal said the sit-in protest provided moral support to the leaders to take forward the tasks of constitution writing and added that there was no longer any need of such a protest.

Meanwhile, the National Muslim Struggle Alliance (NMSA) Tuesday submitted a memorandum to Constituent Assembly chairman Subas Nembang demanding a guarantee of the rights of the Muslim community in the new constitution.

The demands included enlisting the Muslim community as a community having a separate identity, forming a Muslim constitutional commission, incorporating the Muslim’s rights along with the rights of women and Dalits under the fundamental rights and ensuring federalism that establishes identity of Muslims.

A delegation led by coordinator of the Alliance and lawmaker Sadrul Miya Haq also called for a complete proportional inclusion of the Muslim community, the principle of secular state, mixed electoral system and adoption of positive discrimination, among others.

They also asked the government to fully implement the previous agreements signed with the Muslim community.

The Alliance is also submitting the memo to Chairman of the Constitutional Committee, Nilamber Acharya.