National
Govt committed to statute amendment, implementation: Minister Lekhak
Minister for Physical Infrastructure and Transport Ramesh Lekhak has said that the government remains committed to move ahead by amending the constitution to soothe the implementation of the constitution.Minister for Physical Infrastructure and Transport Ramesh Lekhak has said that the government remains committed to move ahead by amending the constitution to ensure its implementation.
“We are already in the process to amend the constitution in accordance to the legitimate demands put forth by the Madhesi and Janajati forces. Our task should be completed within a few weeks,” said Lekhak, stopping short of explaining where talks with the disgruntled forces had reached.
Lekhak also reiterated that the coalition between the CPN (Maoist Centre) and NC was formed with the motive to appease the displeased section of society through a constitution amendment, and that his party too was dedicated towards the cause. He claimed that the government was determined to make a larger section of the population accept the statute that was promulgated September 2015.
“After a statute amendment, the government will look towards holding three layers of polls as part of the statute implementation process,” said Lekhak. The constitution envisages holding local, provincial and federal polls by January 2018. As the government plans to hold local polls by March-April next year, the Local Level Restructuring Commission, formed to carve out the number of local units, has until mid-November to submit its report.
The agitating forces have reservations with the state demarcation, citizenship issues, official language in documents and representation in Upper House in the constitution.
Lekhak added that the government, three major forces-Maoist Centre, NC and opposition CPN-UML-and other small parties have discussed the issues raised by the Madhes and Janajati forces several times and believed that the constitution would be amended taking into confidence all the forces.
The central working committee of the largest party in Parliament that concluded on Tuesday also decided to take the lead in the statute amendment process. “We stand by our previous pledge to amend the statute as per the demands made by the Madhesis, Tharus, Adhivasis and Janajatis, before holding the three layers of polls. Nepali Congress will take a lead in holding talks with the disgruntled forces, the main opposition and all other parties inside the Legislature-Parliament,” read the press statement issued by the party office in Sanepa.
The Congress also urged the LLRC to take into account the suggestions given by the major political forces while carving out local units, requesting the commission to speed up work to ensure that their report is submitted by mid-Novemeber. The restructuring commission has finally decided to keep the number of local units (village and municipal councils) to a maximum of 744 after revising the restructuring criteria.