The first meeting of Constituent Assembly (CA) convened on Wednesday, with the political parties making a common commitment to deliver a new constitution within a year.  

The parties were meeting at the new assembly after a gap of 20 months since the dissolution of the previous CA, which failed to deliver a new constitution despite four years of heated discussions. The parties still have serious differences on a number of issues.

As the parties did not have any significant political agenda to deal with in the inaugural meeting, the assembly lasted for only 15 minutes, during which the lawmakers endorsed some routine agendas. The next meeting is scheduled for January 29.

The octogenarian lawmaker Surya Bahadur Thapa who chaired the first meeting read out the letter dispatched by the Prime Minister’s Office about calling the first CA session.

The meeting passed the proposal tabled by Thapa to continue with the CA rules and procedures adopted in 2008 till a new one is put in place.

The meeting also constituted a committee that would assist in running the CA meeting until the election of chairman and vice-chairman of the meeting. Along with top leaders of the major parties, the first meeting was attended by Chairman of Interim Election Government Khil Raj Regmi and other ministers.

The meeting thanked the government, the Election Commission, and all other stakeholders for successfully conducting the November 19 election.

The first meeting of 2008 CA, which turned Nepal into republic, was addressed by then Prime Minister Girija Prasad Koirala. But this time, the government head did not address the first meeting as Regmi is not a member of CA.

Parties’ plan to take the ownership of the progress made by the previous CA did not materialise in the inaugural meeting due lack of preparations and protest by Rastriya Prajatantra Party Nepal (RPP-N).

In his brief address, Thapa said political parties have historic tasks of drafting a new constitution learning a lesson from the past. He warned that failure to deliver a new constitution could invite the political situation of 1950s.

In 1950, democracy was established with a promise of drafting a new constitution through CA but in 1959 the then King Mahendra staged political coup.  “We had to wait several years to regain the agenda of CA and constitution. So, this time the political leaders should work cautiously,” Thapa said.

The first task of the political parties is to form a committee for finalising the rules of procedures. An official at Parliament Secretariat said that they will hold discussions with the parties on the issue.

The next meeting is likely to declare a committee for the preparations of rule of procedures as well as announce the date for the election of CA chairman and vice-chairman.

The constitution drafting process will begin only after the completion of these tasks and formation of the thematic committees for the constitution drafting.

Of the total 601 members in the CA, 240 were directly elected, and 335 through the proportional representation system. Another 26 members are yet to be nominated by the Cabinet to give the CA a full House.