Constitution amendment taskforce submits report to PM

Kathmandu: The task force formed to prepare a ‘constitution amendment discussion paper’ has submitted its report to the Office of the Prime Minister and Council of Ministers on Thursday.

The Prime Minister’s secretariat informed that the task force formed under the coordination of Prime Minister Balendra Shah’s political advisor, Ashim Shah, submitted the report.

The government had formed the task force as per the 100-point agenda on governance reform it launched. The formation of the task force was expected to ensure a participatory, transparent and fact-based debate for the amendment of the constitution.

The task force formed on March 30 had begun its work on April 8. It submitted the report within the second extended deadline.

Over this period, the panel held 22 formal and other informal meetings. It also organised in-person discussions with 184 experts, including former presidents, former prime ministers, leaders of various political parties, constitutional experts, legal scholars, former judges, former attorneys general, former secretaries of law, former administrators and women working actively in various fields, media persons and representatives of the private sector.

Even the written suggestions were sought from more than 150 organisations, including constitutional bodies, the Attorney General’s Office, provincial and local governments, the Nepal Bar Association, and various religious associations.

The panel received a total of 44,613 suggestions via digital medium from Nepalis. The suggestions were received through email and WhatsApp following a notice published on the website, seeking suggestions from the general public.

Even telephone and other electronic media were used for receiving inputs.

The report features an executive summary and classifies the suggestions based on a study of historical documents related to constitution writing, reports of committees of the Constituent Assembly, national and international practices and precedents. The issues are grouped under 20 headings.

RSS