5 SPA parties approve supplementary bill draft
4 Jul 2008, 2145 Hrs

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Kathmandu, July 4 (ANI): Five political parties of Nepal's ruling Seven-Party Alliance (SPA) have approved the draft of the supplementary bill through which the interim constitution will be amended, to fulfill the demands raised by the Madhes-based parties.

The five parties gave the green signal during a meeting of the SPA held at the Ministry of Peace and Reconstruction in Singhadurbar on Friday.

However, two fringe constituents of the SPA have disagreed with the draft of the supplementary bill stating sufficient time was not given to discuss the phraseology to be used in the supplementary bill.

The draft prepared by the three ruling parties--- Communist Party of Nepal-Maoist (CPN-M), Nepali Congress and Communist Party of Nepal-Unified Marxist-Leninist (CPN-UML) --- through mutual consensus was presented at the SPA meet today.

Although the Nepal Workers and Peasants Party (NWPP) and the People's Front Nepal have expressed objections to the draft, the other two fringe parties have expressed their approval.

According to Kantipur, the draft will now be tabled as a supplementary amendment bill at the Constituent Assembly (CA) as per the agreement reached between the five parties of the ruling SPA.

The big three parties finalised the draft of the supplementary amendment bill after four days of marathon talks.

According to UML leader Bhim Rawal, the meeting agreed to finalise the draft including the phrases which will act as the basis for all the agreements forged between the government and the Madhesis, indigenous and marginalised groups in the past.

The Madhes-based parties have been disrupting the CA session since last Thursday pressing the government to fulfill their demands. (ANI)