Nepal's constitution drafting body takes up contentious issues

Nepal's Constituent Assembly (CA) has taken up key contentious issues of the new constitution after major parties failed to forge consensus for voting on contentious issues, the constitution drafting body said on Wednesday.

Chairman of Political Dialogue and Consensus Committee (PDCC) Baburam Bhattarai presented the report to full house CA which contains major contentious issues such as federalism, form of government, judiciary and electoral system. Discussions on disputed issues will begin on Thursday in the full House.

The PDCC was supposed to settle contentious issues but failed due to disputes among major parties. CA members will deliberate on these issues.

Bhattarai said parties need to discuss more on contentious issues and there have been positive discussions.

Ahead of the 18th South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation (Saac) Summit held in Kathmandu in the last week of November, the ruling parties had issued a proposal, recommending that the disputed issues of constitution writing should be put on vote, while the opposition alliance had insisted on resolving the contentions through consensus.

Nepal's constitution drafting process is at crossroads as parties have just 40 days to meet Jan. 22 deadline for issuing a new national charter.