First meeting of Constitutional Amendment Task Force being held today

KATHMANDU: The first meeting of the task force formed to prepare a discussion paper on constitutional amendments is being held today at the Office of the Prime Minister and Council of Ministers.

The task force, formed by Prime Minister Balendra Shah (Balen), aims to draft a ‘Constitutional Amendment Discussion Paper’ to guide national debate on possible changes to the constitution.

The meeting is scheduled for 3 pm, with representatives from various political parties expected to participate, according to the Prime Minister’s Secretariat.

The task force is coordinated by Prime Minister Balen’s political advisor, Ashim Shah. Its members include Mohan Acharya of the Rastriya Swatantra Party, Dr. Bhishmanath Adhikari, CPN-UML, Dev Prasad Gurung of the Nepali Communist Party, Gyanendra Shahi, parliamentary party leader from the Rastriya Prajatantra Party, and Manoj Bhatta, General Secretary of Rastriya Janamorcha.

Some major parties, including the Nepali Congress, Shram Sanskriti Party, Janata Samajwadi Party-Nepal, and Loktantrik Samajwadi Party, have not yet finalized their representatives.

The Prime Minister’s Secretariat said the names of these members are likely to be confirmed today following internal discussions within the parties.

The task force also includes Pushkar Sapkota, Law Secretary of the Prime Minister’s Office, and Indira Dahal, Secretary of the Nepal Law Commission, with Liladhar Subedi, Chief of the Law and Judgment Implementation Division of the Prime Minister’s Office, serving as the member-secretary.

The formation of the task force was outlined in Point 4 of the ‘100-point agenda on governance reforms’. The agenda highlighted the need to build a national consensus on key issues, including long-term political and institutional reforms as well as the electoral system, and emphasized that the process should be participatory, transparent, and fact-based.

Following this plan, the Cabinet meeting formally approved the task force under the coordination of Ashim Shah. The task force is designed to include representatives from all political parties in the federal parliament, as well as senior officials from the Prime Minister’s Office and the Nepal Law Commission, to ensure a comprehensive and inclusive approach to the discussion on constitutional amendments.