Nepal interim constitution panel is a divided house

The interim constitution draft committee headed by retired Supreme Court justice Lakshman Prasad Aryal did not overrule the Maoist suggestion to treat its People8217;s Liberation Army as an organ of the state, but included it as an alternative view point, remaining unclear about the rights of the supreme commander8212;the prime minister8212;on the matter of control and deployment of such armies.

A former chief justice of the Supreme Court who headed the 1990-Constitution criticised the interim constitution saying it made restoration of the constitutional process difficult.

The committee retained freedom clauses of the 1990 constitution guaranteeing the same degree of protection to the media. The committee also fully recognized every citizen8217;s right to life with no provision of the death penalty in the statute.

The draft has not been able to reach a conclusion on the strength of the interim parliament, its composition as well as the voting age for the Constituent Assembly8212;whether it should be the existing 18 years, or lowered to 16 as suggested by Maoists.