IANS
Nepal’s Prime Minister Sushil Koirala said yesterday that he will step down immediately after the promulgation of a new constitution within the next 10 months.
Speaking at a public programme, Koirala, who became the country’s prime minister on February 10, said that his main priority was to get the constituent assembly to draft a new democratic constitution,
Xinhua reported.
“After the promulgation of the new constitution, I will give up my post as I have no interest in remaining in power,” Koirala said.
He added that all the political parties were serious and responsible for the promulgation of a new constitution as soon as possible.
Despite the prime minister’s statement, Nepal’s constituent assembly has not yet begun the task of drafting the new
constitution.
Four months have elapsed since the November 19 elections but the constituent assembly rules of procedures have not been finalised yet due to the
dispute among the parties.
Nepali Congress’ Koirala became the prime minister on February 10 with the strong backing of the Communist Party of Nepal-Unified Marxist-Leninist.
Last week, the process of drafting a new constitution suffered a setback due to a dispute among the major political parties about the rules of procedure of the constituent assembly.
Major coalition partners Nepali Congress (NC) and Communist Party of Nepal-Unified Marxist-Leninist (CPN-UML) are at odds over who - the country’s president or the constituent assembly chairman - should certify, authenticate and promulgate the new constitution.
The NC has said that President Ram Baran Yadav, as the head of state, should get the
authority to do so.
“As head of the state, the president should get such authority as per international practices,” said NC vice president Ram Chandra Poudel at a public programme earlier this week. Yadav belongs to the Nepali Congress.
The CPN-UML, under the leadership of Jhalanath Khanal, however, maintains that constituent assembly chairman Subash Nemwang should get such authority. There is a vague constitutional provision on the issue. Nemwang belongs to the CPN-UML.
Due to the dispute between the two parties, the process of drafting the rules of procedure has been halted for a week.
A cross-party committee was formed on February 10 to prepare the rules of procedure for drafting a new constitution. Due to the dispute, however, the tenure of the committee has been extended several times.
Political parties in the Himalayan nation are under pressure to prepare the rules of procedure as soon as possible and begin the process of drafting the constitution which they have promised to complete within a year.