[1]Though the nascent Republic of Nepal managed to stave off an unprecedented constitutional crisis by a hair’s breadth on Friday midnight, public anger and confusion still remained, turning the celebration of Republic Day on Saturday into a travesty.
The interim Parliament, which has also been mandated to write a new Constitution, was saved from the jaws of death at midnight after the Opposition Maoist Party agreed to bail out the government and supported its bid to give the House a new lease of life.
Now, Nepal’s 601 legislators have been given a second chance to complete the new Constitution by May 27, 2011. However, going by the past performance of the House, which was repeatedly held hostage by the major parties as they squabbled for power, it is doubtful if it would be able to draft the new Constitution within the extended deadline. “Following my party’s diktat I voted to prolong the interim Parliament,” said Anil Kumar Jha, an MP from the Sadbhavana Party, a minor partner in the ruling coalition. “However, I do not think a new Constitution will be ready in one year.” Earlier, the chief of the main Opposition party had expressed the same doubt. The ruling parties do not want a new Constitution,” former revolutionary and chief of the Maoist party Pushpa Kamal Dahal Prachanda had said at a public meeting in Kathmandu.
“They will not be able to write a new Constitution even if they are given four more years to do so.”
Now as a reciprocal gesture, embattled Prime Minister Madhav Kumar Nepal is expected to step down, though it is not clear when. The Maoists on Saturday claimed Mr Nepal would quit in five days’ time to make way for a new government. —IANS
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