Kathmandu, September 23 In a bid to appease Madheshi Morcha (United Democratic Madheshi Front), the Prachanda government is preparing to register a Constitution amendment proposal in the Parliament the next week.
The government has readied the proposal after consulting Prime Minister Prachanda, Nepali Congress President Sher Bahadur Deuba and major leaders of the Morcha. It is now with Deputy Prime Minister Bimalendra Nidhi.
A government minister told Onlinekhabar that the government is preparing to register the proposal without delay.
But the government does not seem to have held discussions with opposition parties regarding the proposal.
The main opposition CPN-UML has already indicated it will not let the proposal sail through the Parliament easily. It has been demanding the concerned parties to justify Charter amendment.
The proposal has taken up four matters, including the most important issue of provincial demarcation, constitution of the national assembly, citizenship and language commission.
The government has already formed a language commission under Lava Dev Awasthi. But it is yet to get a full shape.
Regarding the national assembly, the Constitution has envisaged a 59-member NA with each province sending eight NA members.
But the government has now proposed sending at least five members from each province and selecting rest of the members on the basis of population.
Regarding citizenship, the government is preparing to amend special constitutional provisions.
As per the Constitution, only citizens by descent can be eligible for 10 constitutional positions like President, Prime Minister, Chief Minister, Speaker of Provincial Assembly.
Madheshi parties have been protesting against this provision. The government is preparing to trim the list that bars naturalised citizens from holding important positions.
Regarding demarcation, the government has proposed retaining seven provinces by altering demarcation somewhat. The proposal has sought to review boundaries of provinces 4, 5 and 6.
The idea is to merge some districts currently in Province 5 into provinces 4 and 6.
Under this scheme of things, Province 5 will span from Nawalparasi to Bardiya. Currently, half of Nawalparasi is in Province 4. The government has proposed making it part of Province 5.
Gulmi, Arghakhanchi and Palpa districts are currently in Province 5. The government has proposed making them part of Province 4.
If the government plan materialises, Pyuthan and Rolpa, which are currently part of Province 5, will become part of Province 6.
Half of Rukum district, which is currently in Province 4, will become part of Province 6, if the plan sees the light of the day.
Meanwhile, the Nepali Congress says it is against fulfilling Morcha’s demand of making Jhapa, Morang, Sunsari and Kailali part of Tarai-Madhesh Province.
Morcha leaders have been demanding that the status of these five districts be regarded as disputed. They have been saying that the Restructuring Commission should take the final call on their inclusion in one or other province.
But the NC is against the Morcha’s stance. Nidhi, who is an NC leader and a confindante of party President Deuba, says he cannot convince the party to regard these five districts as disputed.
