Govt not against constitution amendment: Minister Gurung

By A Staff Reporter,Kathmandu, Jan. 11: Minister for Communication and Information Technology Prithvi Subba Gurung has said that the government and the CPN-UML are not against the constitution amendment agenda. 

“The government is positive towards the constitution amendment process as it is a must-do thing as it has been mentioned in point number 2 of the seven-point agreement inked before the formation of the present coalition government of Nepali Congress and CPN-UML,” Minister Gurung said while speaking at a press conference organised to make the cabinet decisions of January 7 public on Friday. 

The government has no intention of causing any delay in the constitution amendment process,  Minister Gurung, who is also the government spokesperson, responded to a question of journalists. 

Minister Gurung said, "From a policy perspective, in terms of ideology, and based on the agreement reached between the two large parties during the formation of the government, the government has neither thought nor will it think of making any negative or different notes on the constitution amendment agenda."

An eight-member task force formed by the government with representatives of the two ruling parties has also suggested some of the points and issues that need to be addressed while making amendments to the constitution and implementing federalism,  said Minister Gurung. 

Explaining the process needed to be completed before a constitution amendment, Minister Gurung said, “The government will first hold discussions with the two major ruling parties to identify the agendas and points to be amended in the constitution. Then, the government will hold separate talks with the opposition parties, and only the issues will later become 

national agendas.”

“This is the process, the government needs to follow before amending the constitution, and Prime Minister KP Sharma Oli expressed his view during the central committee meeting of his party,” said Minister Gurung. 

During the closing ceremony of the UML’s central committee meeting on Tuesday, PM Oli said that the constitution would be amended only in 2030, which sparked controversies, particularly in the Nepali Congress, the key coalition partner.  

“Our Prime Minister might have spoken about the topic regarding constitutional amendment issue while analysing the present political scenario,” said Minister Gurung.

Likewise, Minister Gurung said that agendas that are going to be tabled at the parliament need to be endorsed both by the House of Representatives and the National Assembly. So, to pass the agendas of the constitution and amendment, there must be an agreement of all lawmakers representing both Houses.

Responding to another question regarding preparation to call the winter session of the federal parliament, Minister Gurung said that the government is positive about summoning the new session of the House soon as there are already 19 bills that need to be endorsed by the government, and 11 other laws that need to be amended through the parliament.

“Chief whips and whips represented by the two ruling parties are doing homework for finalising the bills that need to be tabled during the winter session through the Secretariat of the Federal Parliament,” said Minister Gurung.  

Meanwhile, the Cabinet meeting held on January 7 decided to promote the Acting Secretary of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Amrit Bahadur Rai, to the position of Secretary of the Ministry.  Also, the government has decided to extend the tenure of four Deputy Inspectors Generals of the Armed Police Force-- Kamal Giri, Ganesh Bahadur Thadamagar, Kul Bahadur Nembang and Shambhu Subedi by one year. 

The government has also approved the visit of the Minister of State for Forests and Environment to participate in a climate change-related programme to be held in Rome, Italy, from February 24-27. 

Likewise, the Cabinet meeting deputed Joint Secretary Bishnu Prasad Sharma as the Executive Director of the Special Structure Operation and Management Development Committee. 

Further, the Cabinet meeting has formed a dialogue team led by the Secretary of the Ministry of Industry, Commerce and Supplies, to participate in the Nepal-India Commerce Secretary-level Intergovernmental Committee meeting scheduled for January 10-11 in Kathmandu. The Cabinet meeting has also approved the agendas for discussion and negotiations to be presented in the meeting, said Minister Gurung. 

Minister Gurung said the Cabinet meeting endorsed the visit of Deputy Auditor General Bamdev Sharma Adhikari to Manila of the Philippines to take part in the ‘Workshop on Enhancing SAI-CSO Engagement in the ASOSAI Region’ to be kicked off from February 10-12.