Amendment proposal is erroneous - Oli

Kathmandu, Jan 1: CPN-UML chairman KP Sharma Oli Sunday said that the constitution amendment proposal was erroneous in its essence, process, content and outcome.

In an appeal to the people to participate in the mass rally to be organized on 6^th January in Kathmandu, Oli said that the amendment proposal had been forwarded at a time when the preparations for the local, provincial and federal election should have been expedited in order to complete them by 21^st January 2018 as per the constitutional provision.

"The amendment has pushed the elections into uncertainty. It is against the provision of Articles 274 (4) and 296 of the Constitution and verdict of the Supreme Court,” read the appeal.

The former Prime Minister said that there lay ill-intention behind the amendment as it seeks to harm the harmony among the people, and divide the country into the Terai and Hill/Mountain and establish two nations.

He also stated that the efforts at changing the structure of the National Assembly were dangerous as it would disturb the provincial balance in the Assembly and ultimately weaken just representation of the provinces.

“The amendment proposal has created a political crisis in the country. It has contributed to widen the gap between the political parties that collaborated in writing and implementing the constitution, and created conflict in the society,” said Oli.

Saying that constitution amendment should be on basis of the necessity, rationality, national interest and public desire, the UML chair said, “We had urged the government not to undermine the consent of 90 per cent representatives in the Parliament just to make somebody else or a group of people happy.”

He said that people had been protesting the proposal for more than a month, and even the leaders of the ruling parties were against it but the government had been continuously ignoring the voice of the people and making the political environment more complicated.

According to Oli, there was only one way out for the amicable solution of the current crisis – withdrawal of the ‘unconstitutional’ amendment proposal and expedite the election process.

He said that the CPN-UML had been continuously asking the government to accept the proposal of the Local Body Restructuring Commission and formally begin the restructuring process, declare the date of the elections at all three levels, table the election-related bills in the parliament and publish the action plan for constitutional implementation.

“We are ready to assist the government in all these issues, but we will never accept any activity in the name of constitution amendment,” he warned.

The appeal said that women, dalits, marginalised communities, working class, minorities and various ethnicities including Madheshis would be affected if the constitution was not implemented.

The CPN-UML and nine other political parties have been preparing for a mass demonstration on 6^th January.