As per the rules, the CA should give members at least a week to study the preliminary draft before engaging them in a discussion. The CA Secretariat has distributed the draft to CA members.

The Assembly, however, suspended the allotted time in order to start deliberations on the constitution draft tabled by Constitution Drafting Committee Chairman Krishna Prasad Sitaula on Monday night. The CA will start theoretical discussions on the draft by Friday. The process is expected to take a week.

The Sanghiya Samajbadi Forum led by Upendra Yadav, Tarai Madhes Loktantirk Party led by Mahanta Thakur, Sadbhawana Party led by Rajendra Mahato, the Rastriya Prajatantra Party-Nepal and some fringe parties objected to the suspension, calling it an unconstitutional practice.

Some CA members tried to prevent Nepali Congress Chief Whip Chin Kaji Shrestha from tabling the proposal to suspend the process.

RPP-Nepal Chief Whip Dil Nath Giri and Sadbhawana Party leader Laxman Lal Karna protested the short-cut, terming it an authoritarian move of the big parties. CA Chairman Subas Nembang endorsed the proposal defending the move. The fringe parties have announced to continue their protest in the CA on Friday.

Though the parties agreed to fast-track discussions, they are yet to agree on the time to be allotted for public consultation on the provisions in the draft. After deliberations are over, the constitution draft is handed over to the Committee on Citizen Relations and Public Opinion Collection for dissemination.

After incorporating people’s views, the Drafting Committee will present the final draft as a bill in the Assembly. Political parties and CA members will then be able to register their concerns in the Assembly.

The major parties plan to bring out the new constitution within a month by completing the whole process. The first draft was tabled in the CA on Tuesday despite reservations from some parties including the UCPN (Maoist), a

signatory to the 16-point deal. Despite the differences, all the parties including Madhes-based forces are participating in the CA process.