March 2, 2002	Saturday	Zilhaj 17, 1422

KATHMANDU, March 1: In an attempt to ease the present political confusion, Nepal’s top constitutional experts have challenged a latest move to amend the 1990 constitution at a time when the fundamental rights stand suspended under a decree of emergency.

In a bid to quell a six-year-old Maoist rebellion, Prime Minister Sher Bahadur Deuba’s government placed the country under a state of emergency on Nov 26. A parliamentary vote last Thursday extended its duration by another three months.

The Unified Marxist Leninist (UML), the main party in the opposition, offered its support for the extension of emergency after Deuba’s categorical assurance to the proposed constitutional amendments in the current session of parliament.

But analysts do not think it proper to go for amendments because in a state of emergency citizens do not find an atmosphere conducive to conduct a detailed national debate on any matter of public interest.

“To initiate a process for constitutional amendments when people’s rights are suspended would not be in relevance with the democratic norms,” said Bishwanath Upadhyaya, former chief justice and author of the present Constitution.

Any understanding between and among political parties should be able to offer remedies to the people’s woes, or else it will be counter-productive, said the statement signed by Upadhayaya and three other prominent personalities.