KATHMANDU -- An alliance of opposition parties has warned that it will obstruct the constitution making process if ruling parties try to sideline their demand to have ethnicity-based provinces.
A meeting of the Federal Republic Alliance (FRA) on Monday decided to obstruct the proceedings of Constituent Assembly if the NC and UML go ahead with promulgating the new constitution by sidelining them and using their two-thirds majority.
Led by the main opposition UCPN (Maoist), the FRA is an alliance of 30 fringe political parties. It has demanded that the new constitution be promulgated on the basis of consensus – and not through the majority voting process.
R K Khambu, president of the Khambuwan National Front (KNF), a member of the FRA, said that the alliance will push for consensus until the last moment.
"If the NC and the CPN (UML) ignore us, we will obstruct the house," said Khambu, warning that the FRA is even ready to call for an indefinite nationwide general strike to exert pressure on the ruling parties to reach consensus.
The FRA's warning comes on the last of the four days given by CA Chairman Subash Nembang for the main political parties to reach a consensus.
On Thursday, Nembang had urged the top leaders of the major political parties to reach consensus on the key issues of constitution within four days. Nembang had also requested the political parties to allow him to prepare the first draft of constitution if they failed.
Nembang's proposal has already come in for criticism by all major political parties. The FRA has also flayed Nembang for his proposal which it says is against CA regulations.
In its meeting, the FRA also endorsed its joint concept paper on key issues of constitution like federalism, system of governance and model of judiciary. Most of the points of the FRA's proposal are reflections of the UCPN (Maoist)'s stance on key issues of state restructuring.
The FRA has demanded that Nepal be carved into 10 autonomous federal provinces based on single ethnic identity, and the President be elected directly and the Prime Minister by Parliament.
The FRA has also demanded that there should be provisions of Supreme Court, Constitutional Court and High Court at the center and local courts and federal-provincial judicial commissions at the district level.
Om Astha Rai