Inclusive constituent assembly stressed

Participants of an interaction in Canada have urged all political parties to make the constituent assembly an inclusive one as forming a new constitution through the constituent assembly is a special event in the history of Nepal.

Speaking at the interaction organized by Canada Forum for Nepal in Ottawa, the capital city of Canada, General Secretary of Joint Forum for Human Rights, Gopal Siwakoti ‘Chintan’ said that grievances against non-inclusion are strong in Nepal and recent movement of Madhesh was fueled by those grievances.

He also said that the parties spent most of the time on fringe issues, such as arguing about monarchy, which the April uprising wanted to abolish; lingering an old parliament, which people did not fight to revive; filling more party members in parliament, which was promised to include civil society figures, and writing non-inclusive interim constitution, which was promised to be inclusive.

Speaking at the same programme, Richard Harmston of South Asia Partnership Canada said, “If parties and leaders do not know how to run a democratic and fair system but rather be blinded by party interests and family interests, they could end up in the same situation as they were in the last ten years,” adding, “Maoists had gained their relevance by fighting against the palace, exclusion and chronic exploitation but they will also not find resonance to the populace if they do not repent for their past violations of human rights and stand strong on their other credible principles of equality.”

Dr Pramod Dhakal of the Canada Forum for Nepal said, “The process of making the constitution must involve the whole society, because more than ninety percent people who do not carry party memberships are to be ruled by the same constitution.”

Bhuwani Paudel, a Geotechnical Engineer opined that fixed seats could be allocated in the constitution assembly for candidates from various sectors, and the parties could still compete for those seats if they have such candidates in the party.

Dr Neeru Shrestha, an economist, also added that Nepal should not neutralise the non-party voices in the constitution making process and should not behave like the owners of the country; they should rather behave like the representatives of the people.

All the participants also said that the interim government should implement the Rayamajhi and Mallik commission reports swiftly and the interim parliament should scrap the old 205 constituencies, formulate more fair election process, and use proportional representation system.

They also stressed the need for amending the interim constitution to enshrine fair representation for women, Dalit, Janajati, Madhesi, handicapped, remote communities, civil society figures, and professionals in the constituent assembly election. nepalnews.com pb Feb 15 07