Kathmandu, November 22
A day after Nepal’s principal opposition dared the ruling coalition to table a bill to amend the constitution in Parliament, the ruling coalition is left counting its seats to get the amendment through.
With the unification of Rastriya Prajatantra Party, which had 25 seats and Rastriya Prajatantra Party-Nepal, which had 12 seats, and their decision to remain in the ruling coalition, Prachanda now commands the support of 398 lawmakers, just one more than the 397 required to claim a tw0-third majority.
Yesterday, a meeting of the three major political forces at the Prime Minister’s residence in Baluwatar ended on a bitter note, as former Prime Minister and UML leader KP Oli dared the ruling coalition to go ahead with its plan to table an amendment proposal to address the demands of the Madhesh-based parties.
According to sources, the Prime Minister told Oli that he wanted to amend four key provisions of the constitution, and Congress President Sher Bahadur Deuba backed him up.
But Oli lost his temper, and termed the government’s bid to amend the constitution as an ‘anti-national’ step. “It the government goes ahead with the amendment, the UML will play the role of a ‘constructive’ opposition,” Oli is learnt to have said in the meeting.
Oli also warned that any move to amend the constitution without political consensus would force the UML to agitate.
Meanwhile, the ruling coalition’s ability to secure two-third majority for the amendment looks fragile. With such a small margin, the opposition alliance can easily swing one or two votes in its favour if the government goes on to table the amendment bill in Parliament. It is also not clear whether the Madhesh-based parties will own up to the amendment proposal once it is presented in the House.
