A meeting of the Constitutional-Political Dialogue and Consensus Committee (CPDCC) headed by Unified Communist Party of Nepal-Maoist (UCPN-M) leader Baburam Bhattarai held on August 19 agreed on the title of the new constitution, reports The Himalayan Times. The new constitution will be called Nepal’s Constitution, according to committee member Laxman Lal Karna. Parties were divided on the title, with some proposing to add federal or republic and others pro-socialist in the title. After the agreement on the title, committee Chairman Baburam Bhattarai assured media persons that the new constitution would be promulgated by the stipulated deadline, January 22, 2015.
Earlier, on August 18, three major parties - Nepali Congress (NC), Communist Party of Nepal-Unified Marxist Leninist (CPN-UML) and UCPNM agreed to be flexible yet again on the contentious issues of the constitution drafting process by holding consultations in the respective parties, Kantipuronline.com. As per the understanding, the three parties will engage in internal discussions to prepare a flexible proposal before their next meeting scheduled for August 23, 2014.
Separately, UCPNM Chairperson Pushpa Kamal Dahal aka Prachanda at the parliamentary session in Kathmandu on August 18 termed the Government''s way of working as being 'mentally retarded', reports Nepal News. Dahal said "Ever since its formation, the Government has found it difficult to take a decision. I think the Government is mentally retarded. It doesn't pay attention to things that it needs to attend to and tends to issues that it shouldn't bother much with."