Govt preparing second amendment of constitution

With the objective of correcting the constitutional provision regarding the date of Constituent Assembly elections, the government is preparing to introduce second amendment of the interim constitution.

The constitution promulgated on January 15 has a provision, which states that the government will hold the CA by mid- June. Unless this clause is amended within mid-June, the country will face constitutional crisis.

The Article 33 (a) of the interim constitution states that the government will "focus all its attention to conduct a free and impartial election for the members of the Constituent Assembly within Jestha 2064 (by June, 2007)."

At the meeting of State Affairs Committee of the legislative parliament, on Tuesday, the members and the Home Minister discussed the issue of second amendment.

In fact, the parties had already prepared a draft for second amendment stating that the CA elections will be held on June 20. But after Election Commission's statement regarding its inability to hold the polls by that time, this draft had to be further refined.

Reports say the meeting of cabinet, on Wednesday, will approve the draft of the second amendment. The draft second amendment also includes provisions such as allowing the Electoral Constituency Delineation Commission (ECDC) to review its report; abolishing monarchy by two-third votes of the parliament if it is found conspiring to derail CA elections; and introduction of no trust motion against Prime Minister and its approval by two-third majority, among others.

Meanwhile, the SAC also discussed electoral legislations. The members agreed to pass them quickly. However, they are yet to reach broad understanding regarding actual type of electoral system and how to hold the Proportional Representation-based system to vote one-half of CA members. nepalnews.com sd Jun 05 07