MIN RATNA BAJRACHARYA

How satisfied are you with the CA business?
The constitutional committee remained idle in the absence of the committee chair for the past three months. This affected the business of sub-committees under it. Since the election of the committee chair things have been gradually gaining momentum.

Will the constitution be written on time?
The CA regulations allotted two years to write the constitution. But the CA calendar has been rescheduled time and again. This has shortened the time available to discuss the draft papers in the CA sessions. The political parties should put their differences aside and come together to expedite writing of the constitution. But the persistence of conflict among them is not favourable to completing the constitution on time.

Don't you think the provisions to appoint the Chief Justice from outside the pool of Supreme Court justices will hurt the judiciary?
This is one of the alternatives for appointing the Chief Justice. It is intended to rationalise the judiciary, not influence or weaken it. The Chief Justices appointed from within the existing pool of justices have not performed well in the past. So we suggest using an elected institution to appoint them.

What should be the official state language?
Nepali should be the language of communication. Hindi is the language of communication in the Madhes but it is also an issue related to national sovereignty. Hindi is linked with imperialism and can never be the official state language.

The CA seems to be divided between democrats and republicans.
This is a conflict between old and new mindsets. This clash is also seen in the CA committees. Feudals and elites have already disfigured democracy and they want to do the same in the CA. We would have accepted it if it was pro-public democracy.