Kathmandu, Sept 17: CPN (UML) senior leaders viewed that the Constitution as a living document can be subject to amendment. At a discussion and interaction on ‘A decade-long experience of constitution implementation, challenges and way forward’, organized by UML Policy, Study and Research Academy here Tuesday, senior vice-chair Ishwar Prasad Pokharel stressed the need to gradually amend the constitution to make it relevant as it is not unalterable document.
Pokharel said it was the duty of the pro-democracy forces to address the problems seen during the implementation of the constitution from time to time as it was drafted and promulgated by the people’s representatives in a democratic way.
UML Vice-Chair Surendra Pandey said the constitution amendment was necessary to address the dissatisfaction seen in the constitution. There was no discussion on what should be the economic structure for economic development to make the constitution, he added.
On the occasion, party general secretary Shankar Pokharel said the constitution could be amended only if there was consensus among the political parties. The constitution cannot be amended only after holding discussions within one party, he said, adding consensus among the political parties is a must for the same.
General Secretary Pokharel opined that direct election system could be adopted without affecting inclusive participation. “Federalism, democracy and republic should not be discussed on whether the party is trying to weaken inclusivity”, he said, adding, “Direct elections can be held for certain constituencies and certain communities in a given year through the framework of rotating inclusivity in the constituency.”
Minister for Communications and Information Technology and CPN (UML) Deputy General Secretary Prithvi Subba Gurung stressed the need to move ahead towards constitution amendment only by identifying the strengths and weaknesses of the nine-year-old constitutional exercise. Stating that there was no instability in the country due to the proportional inclusive election system, he said that there was a stable government in the countries with proportional election system.
Party’s Deputy General Secretary Pradeep Gyawali said there was a need for a review as the enthusiasm seen during the promulgation of the constitution is not present now. Stating that amending all articles of the constitution was not possible, he said the amendment should be carried out after studying the problems seen in the implementation of the constitution.
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