Kathmandu- Five months after the formation of the KP Sharma Oli-led government, coalition partners Nepali Congress and CPN-UML are in the final stages of building a mechanism to identify areas for constitutional amendment.

The main agreement reached between the Congress and UML when forming the government in mid-July was to review the provisions that were difficult to amend the constitution and implement. The Congress and UML held bilateral talks on constitutional amendment on Tuesday. The meeting of the eight-member task force formed between the two parties discussed the issue of moving the amendment process forward.

According to the meeting, a cross-party task force will be led by senior politicians to identify the issues of constitutional amendment and will include members of various political parties. If a non-political task force is formed for that purpose, it will be led by a former Chief Justice of the Supreme Court or another respected legal figure acceptable to all stakeholders.

Stating that it may be difficult to form a political mechanism, some leaders of the Congress and UML have suggested forming a non-political mechanism or task force that can include legal experts, constitutional experts, human rights activists, etc., to move forward, the task force members said.

The agreement reached between the two major parties to amend the constitution has sparked debate within and outside political circles. The parties are divided on whether this is the right time to amend the constitution or not.

However, Home Minister Lekhak said that the ruling and opposition parties will first review the 10-year journey of the constitution and identify its strengths and weaknesses. Second, the ruling party will identify the issues that need to be amended and for that, the ruling and opposition parties will sit together. Finally, the Congress and UML will table the amendment in the House after reaching an agreement on the subject matter.