CA term extended for 3 months with 5-point deal

After all the political drama for last few days, Constituent Assembly (CA) term was finally extended for three months following a five-point deal signed by heads of three major political parties (UCPN (Maoist), Nepali Congress and CPN-UML) in the country.

Here’s the five point deal screen shot as signed by Maoist Chairman Pushpa Kamal Dahal, NC President Sushil Koirala and CPN-UML Chairman and Prime Minister Khanal. (This photo of the five-point deal was taken from Pushpa Kamal Dahal’s son Prakash Dahal’s facebook.)

Here’s a plain English translation of the deals.

We the political parties have reached the following agreement today, May 28:

1. To complete the basic tasks of the peace process within three months
2. To prepare the first draft of the constitution from the Constituent Assembly (CA) within three months
3. To implement effectively the various past agreements reached with the Madhesi Front, including the one to make the Nepal Army (NA) an inclusive institution
4. To extend the CA term by three months
5. The prime minister to resign and pave the way for the formation of a consensus national unity government

For me, the whole tasks (forwarded as points) look same as that of three years ago, when things pretty much started. Well, it’s not that they haven’t progressed, but the main issues still remain the same. Furthermore, you can now go on analyzing all the above points and hit upon a problem in each of them. All the points are plain terms as specifics and details on crucial issues are simply missing and thus can be interpreted in their individual terms in future.

For instance, take the point of Prime Minister resigning; nowhere is it mentioned specifically when he needs to do so. I am not being pessimistic but past has proved us clearly that it could easily take up to months to find a new prime minister for the country. And what does those basic tasks of the peace process in the first point mean? What does it include in? What have they been doing for three years if are still talking to complete those basic things? If things continue the way they have been, I still doubt the first draft of the constitution gets released in upcoming months.

There are complicated issues already with the deals among the three parties that agreed upon the points. Moreover the issues will be made more complicated by other parties such as The United Democratic Madhesi Front (UDMF) who had already declined to sign this deal.

It’s already been three years with CA term and this happens to be the second extension for the CA term. A third extension for another 3 months has already been purposed and undoubtedly the times of extension will keep on increasing.

How optimistic are you with this extension? Do you think they will be able to do what they have promised in the points above?