The constitution amendment process has been put off by at least a week with clause-wise discussion on the first amendment bill scheduled to be held after mid-January.

Speaker Onsari Gharti is leaving for Thailand on Wednesday to spend time with her ailing husband and UCPN (Maoist) Secretary Barsha Man Pun. Former Finance Minister Pun has been receiving treatment for jaundice in Bangkok. Gharti, accompanied by Maoist Chairman Pushpa Kamal Dahal, will be in Thailand for a week.

Pun was referred to a Thailand-based hospital for further care when there was no significant improvement in his health even after a month-long treatment at Mendata Hospital, India.

Sources at the Legislature-Parliament said the House meeting scheduled for Tuesday will be adjourned till Speaker Gharti returns home. The process to register amendments to the bill, however, will continue. Gokul Gharti, whip of the ruling CPN-UML, said clause-wise discussion on the bill is unlikely to begin before Magh 1 (January 15), which is a major festival of the Hindus, particularly of the Tharu community.

Parliament on Monday gave lawmakers 72 hours to register their amendments to the Constitution Amendment Bill after Law Minister Agni Kharel answered questions raised by the MPs during a weeklong theoretical discussion on the bill.

Minister Kharel said a majority of provisions of the new constitution can be amended in consensus among the political parties. Presenting cases of the

constitutions of India and South Africa amended within a few months of their adoption, he argued that the statute revision should be taken positively.

The law minister was responding to the views of lawmakers from Rastriya Janamorcha and Nepal Majdoor Kisan Party that there was no need for amendment to the newly adopted charter. In the weeklong discussion, 58 cross-party lawmakers had expressed their views over the amendment bill.

“The bill addresses a majority of demands of the agitating Madhesi and Tharu parties. They can also register amendments to the bill if they wish,” he said, urging the protesting parties to aid the passage of the bill. Any lawmaker who wants revision to the bill can register their

amendment proposals by Thursday evening. Clause-wise discussion will begin in Parliament after the secretariat tables a report compiling all the proposals.

Although the agitating Madhes-based parties have said they will not table amendments, the Tharu parties, which back the movement led by the Samyukta Loktantrik Madhesi Morcha, are preparing to propose changes within the deadline.

Tharuhat Janata Party lawmaker Gopal Dahit said his party would register its amendments even if they were yet to decide on the matter. Meanwhile, the ruling Madhesi Janadhikar Forum-Loktantrik has decided to register amendments to Articles 42 and 84. Party Chief Whip Yogendra Chaudhary said they will propose reduction in the present cluster for reservation to eight.

Article 42 has increased the community cluster for reservation from seven in the Interim Constitution to 17 at present by including Khas Aryas in the reservation quota. Chaudhary said his party was also against allocating at least one electoral constituency for each district arguing that the districts make no sense in view of the country adopting a three-tier government without them.