Nepal begins public discussion on drafting of new constitution

Kathmandu: Millions of Nepalese people, including those abroad, on Monday participated in a two-day campaign to garner public opinion on the first draft of the country's new constitution.

The government had declared on Monday and on Tuesday as public holiday to ensure maximum public participation in the interaction on constitution drafting.

The preliminary draft has been sent to the people to solicit their suggestions on the provisions of the proposed constitution, drafted after months of negotiations between warring political parties.

The government has arranged for public hearing in 240 electoral constituencies between Constituent Assembly (CA) members and the general public for the two days.

Nepalese missions abroad are also entrusted to seek feedback from migrants through the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

Prime Minister Sushil Koirala and other top political leaders have appealed to the people to provide their valuable suggestions on the preliminary draft of the statute.

He will visit his home district Banke of western Nepal to participate in a public function on feedback collection.

The CA members have also reached their constituencies for gathering people's views on the proposed constitution.

Meanwhile, four Madhes-based parties protesting the draft obstructed the collection process in some parts of southern plains in Terai region.

In Rautahat, the party cadres led by Former Prime Minister and CPN-UML leader Madhav Kumar Nepal, obstructed the public opinion collection process following which the security has been tightened in Madhes region.

More than 590 lawmakers and 150 officials from the CA Secretariat have been appointed for feedback collection, with top political leaders pledging to engage in public hearings in their respective constituencies.

On July 9, the Assembly had endorsed a 15-day action plan for public consultation.

People put forth their suggestions mainly on matters related to secularism, federalism, forms of governance and capital punishment.

The collected suggestions will be forwarded to the Political Dialogue and Consensus Committee of the Constituent Assembly for deliberations.

The Committee is scheduled to submit a report at CA on July 23 on the feedback of people on preliminary draft of constitution.