Will Nepal finally get its new constitution?

   Kathmandu (dpa) - Uncertainty increased over Nepal's first federal constitution Wednesday as a weekend deadline to finish writing it loomed and political parties disagreed over a proposal to extend the term of the body elected to draft it.

   The cabinet agreed late Tuesday to extend the term of the Constituent Assembly in a bid to buy more time. Three political parties agreeing to the measure registered a bill in the assembly to seek a three-month extension of Sunday's deadline.     The bill must be endorsed by a two-thirds majority for the decision to come into effect.

   "We are registering a proposal to seek a three-month extension," Deputy Prime Minister Narayankaji Shrestha said, "but we will also be working together to promulgate a constitution before May 27.

   "This is only a safety valve."

   However, the Nepali Congress, the largest opposition party, withdrew its initial support of the bill, saying it would amount to contempt of court after the Supreme Court forbade an extension of the Constituent Assembly's term.

   Supporters of the bill were still expected to have enough votes to pass the measure.

   The government has been under immense pressure as the clock ticks down to Sunday's deadline.

   A strike by ethnic and indigenous groups shut down transport, schools and markets across the country from Sunday to Tuesday. The groups are demanding their rights be enshrined in the new constitution. They also want federal states based on ethnic lines.

   Ethnic groups clashed Monday and Tuesday while journalists were attacked in districts across the country on allegations of not providing coverage to ethnic issues.

   A new constitution that incorporated the rights of Nepal's ethnic and marginalized communities was first due in 2010, four years after the end of a decade-long civil conflict with Maoist rebels.

   The Constituent Assembly missed that deadline and four subsequent extensions amid party bickering.

   Recent divisions among the parties have included the division of states although they have sorted out other contentious issues.
dpa pt lns