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Constituent Assembly poll postponed in Nepal

KATHMANDU: Nepal’s fragile peace process suffered a setback on Friday after the coalition government decided to suspend the Constituent Assembly election scheduled for November 22, owing to irreconcilable differences among partners of the ruling combine.

The Election Commission on Friday suspended all election programmes as requested by the government. On Friday morning, top leaders of the Seven-Party Alliance (SPA) decided to defer the poll indefinitely after they failed to reach a consensus on the future of the monarchy and the modality of the election.

The Communist Party of Nepal (UML) and two fringe Left parties wrote a note of dissent, expressing their displeasure over the postponement of the poll.

This is the second time that the Constituent Assembly poll has been postponed by the government.

The election should have been held on June 20 as per the initial Comprehensive Peace Agreement. The election has become a mirage of sorts in Nepali politics, though it was one of the major agendas of Nepal’s first democratic movement way back in 1950.

The coalition government ran into trouble after the Communist Party of Nepal (Maoists) backtracked from its earlier agreement and demanded that Nepal be declared a republic before the elections and a fully proportional system of election be adopted for the poll.

The Interim Constitution of Nepal says the first meeting of the Constituent Assembly would decide the fate of the monarchy and the Assembly would be formed through a mixed system of election — half of the members would be elected on the basis of the first-past-the-post system and the other half would be elected through a fully proportional system.

The parties have not agreed on the next date for conducting the election and are putting the blame on one another for the postponement.

Maoist Chairman Prachanda issued a statement saying his party was not in favour of deferring the poll but agreed to it “so as to save the Seven-Party unity and the peace process”. The UML took out a rally and held a public meeting in Kathmandu to protest the poll postponement.

The leaders have, however, issued a joint statement expressing their commitment to the peace process and have said they would soon declare the next date for the election.

Meanwhile, Prime Minister Girija Prasad Koirala has summoned a special session of the Interim Parliament on October 11 as demanded by 87 lawmakers, 84 of them Maoists, to discuss the two major demands of the Maoist party.

The Interim Parliament will take a final decision on the electoral system and the Maoists’ demand for declaring the country a republic. Minister for Peace and Reconciliation Ram Chandra Poudel said the next date for the election will be decided after the House takes a decision on the Maoists’ demands.

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