What are you doing these days?
When the CA and parliament were suspended, I spent a
lot of time on official trips abroad. I attended programs on development, environment and social service in Delhi and Germany between Dasain and Tihar. Since then, I have attended two meetings of the State Restructuring Committee.

What's happening in the CA?
CA meetings are going on and the discussions have been good, but there's still a lot of work left to do.

Will the constitution be written on time?
Because of the current political impasse, it doesn't seem likely that the constitution will be written on time.

Is there a lot of discord in committee meetings?
The Maoists, and an assortment of ethnic political parties allied with them, want ethnic federalism, while the other parties want federalism to be based on geographic, ethnic and economic viability. There's also disagreement on how to regulate and share power amongst the executive, judiciary and the legislature.

How much of the constitution-writing process is complete?
The constitution hasn't been drafted yet, so about 25 per cent is complete.

Why has the constitution-writing process been delayed?
A big reason is the unhelpfulness the Maoists showed after leaving government. Their unwillingness to disband the violent YCL, return land taken during the war and advance the integration of combatants have also delayed the constitution-writing process.

What are the positive and negative aspects of the CA?
It's good that those on opposing sides of the civil war are now sitting down in one place. The CA membership reflects the make-up of our society. However, the harsh language used by the Maoists is a negative aspect.

How different is the mood among CA members now compared to how it was when the CA was first established?
At first, people were generally upbeat and committed to writing a good constitution. But now, many are disenchanted by Maoist ideological stubbornness and their greed for power. Everyone's despairing.

READ ALSO:
Constitution 2010, Nepali Times coverage of issues related to writing the new constitution