He also warned of moving ahead as per the traditions and CA rules of procedures if parties fail to suggest a proper course of action. At a meeting with party chief whips, Nembang said parties’ first priority should be forging consensus on the content of new constitution. He asked the chief whips to convey his message to their top leaders by comprehending “the sensitivity of the matter”. “If that is not possible, there should be consensus on the constitution drafting process between the ruling coalition and opposition parties,” he said.

He said top leaders of major parties told him it was possible to forge consensus on the disputed issues of statute within a couple of hours. He, however, told the party leaders that it is still possible to bring a preliminary draft of constitution by January 22 if parties immediately agree on key issues.

Deliberations on the report presented by the Political Dialogue and Consensus Committee (PDCC) is set to come to an end as almost all CA members have expressed their opinions on it. Therefore, Nembang said, parties should now suggest him the proper course of action.

Earlier, parties had agreed to transfer the disputed issues from the PDCC to the CA, which temporarily provided respite to the ongoing deadlock.

Now, Nembang is under extreme pressure mainly from ruling parties to initiate a voting process to resolve the contentious issues and prepare a draft of the new statute. The opposition parties, on the other hand, are of the view that there should not be any voting on disputed issues of new statute. The ruling parties are arguing that such issues should not be transferred back to the PDCC, while opposition are demanding just the opposite.

“If parties fail to provide a consensual roadmap, I have to move ahead on the basis of existing laws and regulations,” Nembang told the Post. He, however, did not elaborate on the possible course. But, legal eagles said he could form a special committee in order to forward the contentious issues to the PDCC.

Nembang is scheduled to hold talks with top leaders of major parties on Wednesday on the process to be adopted in the statute drafting process. However, the leaders, who will attend the meeting of the Business Advisory Committee of the Legislature Parliament on Wednesday, are at odds over the process to be adopted.

As the January 22 deadline for drafting new constitution is approaching fast, relationship between the CA Chairman and major parties has gone sour. The ruling parties are expecting that Nembang will initiate a voting process, while opposition think he should play an active role to forge consensus. Nembang’s role in the previous CA had also drawn mixed response from both the ruling and opposition parties.