Ramroonline
August 22, 2025 
Kathmandu, Aug 22: General Secretary of the Nepali Congress, Gagan Kumar Thapa, has said constitution amendment is neither a luxury nor an option but a measure for resolving serious problems surfaced before the system.
During a talk programme organized by the Local Leadership Development Forum on ‘A decade of federalism: A review and way ahead’ here today, General Secretary Thapa said the major political parties should forward amendment to the constitution even by taking risk so that the faults on implementation of federalism, electoral system and governance would be corrected.
Clarity on structure and rights of three-tiers of government is imperative, he said, reminding the constitution amendment as one of the points mentioned in the seven-point agreement signed between NC and UML before the formation of present government.
On the occasion, Chief Whip of NC, Shyam Kumar Ghimire, admitted that the enforcement of federalism did not gain pace as per expectation despite passage of a decade. Impractical provisions in the constitution are behind it, he blamed.
“Although many good initiatives were made, the bad governance plagued democracy and constitution,” he argued.
Chief Whip of CPN UML, Mahesh Bartaula, said foundation of the present government is the strengthening of federalism with its effective enforcement. Once the political federalism is effective, administrative and fiscal federalism will be robust, according to him.
Although government is for constitution amendment, unnecessary issues should not be entertained to polarize the country, he warned.
Member of the National Assembly Gopi Bahadur Sharki Achhami said fiscal and administrative federalisms were weaker than political federalism.
Madan Kumari Sah (Garima) also admitted that the law-making process did not gain pace.
Forum’s Chairman Bansalal Tamang suggested consideration of the experiences of local levels before forwarding constitution amendment.