The main opposition party UCPN (Maoist) has said that its Constituent Assembly (CA) members are free to register amendment proposals on their own to revise the constitution draft.

 The party said on Wednesday it has granted the freewill to its CA members to register motion with consent from the party chief whip. According to Party Spokesperson Dina Nath Sharma, its CA members are free to use their conscience to vote in the CA.

But the major parties—Nepali Congress and CPN-UML—have discouraged their CA members from registering personal amendment bills. 

 The CA Rules of Procedure-2014 that governs the activities of CA members is silent on whether the parties can impose a whip on their members in Parliament. Some argue that lawmakers are not bound by party policies in the CA.

In order to address the demands of Dalit, Janajati and other marginalised communities, some CA members of UCPN (Maoist) are preparing to table separate amendment proposals which will be backed by major parties in the CA.

 “Our CA members are free to register amendment bills as there is no provision for a party whip in the CA,” said Maoist Chief Whip Giriraj Mani Pokhrel.