KATHMANDU, May 14: The United People´s Movement Committee (UPMC) led by UCPN (Maoist) senior Vice-chairman Mohan Baidya faction on Monday submitted signatures of people from across the country to Speaker of the Constituent Assembly Subas Nembang, demanding timely promulgation of the constitution.
While submitting the signatures of "tens of thousand of people", the faction also submitted a 21-point memorandum to Nembang, demanding guarantee of special rights to women, Dalits and Muslims for certain time in the constitution.
Besides, it also sought implementation of the Article 169 of the International Labor Organization that relates to the rights of indigenous people.
"We are submitting these signatures to draft a people´s constitution," said Maoist Secretary CP Gajurel. "We could submit only part of the collected signatures as all the signatures could not be brought to Kathmandu due to strikes. We will submit them once they are brought."
Points in the 21-point memorandum are almost the same issues that Maoist raised during the decade long insurgency and during CA election. The UPMC has demanded an end of what it called comprador and bureaucratic feudalism in the new constitution. It further said that the country should be federalized on single-identity basis and provinces should be authorized to enjoy autonomy and self-governance.
On electoral system, it has batted for fully proportional to population of particular community. Likewise, the constitution should guarantee proportional representation of ethnic communities in state mechanisms.
"The constitution should guarantee press freedom, rule of law, human rights and multiparty system," the UPMC, which comprises of 11 fringe parties and organizations, said in the memorandum.
In addition, the UPMC said there should be guarantees of compulsory education, health, employment, food, housing and social security in the constitution. It has further demanded the national army be made inclusive in proportional to population after preparing a national security policy.
"Every citizen should take military training after 18 years old," said UPMC in another point, adding, "The government should recognize multiple languages for official works."
Receiving the memorandum, Nembang he would convey their demands to the political parties.
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