Kathmandu: Defending his remarks terming the Army Integration Special Committee as "illegal," Nepal Vice President Parmananda Jha today said the Maoist-led government had breached the interim Constitution by setting up the committee.

Talking to journalists at the Biratnagar Airport, Jha said that he had cautioned political parties not to breach the Constitution as "it is my duty to protect the Constitution".

The vice president, who triggered controversy a couple of days ago by terming the recently formed special committee to integrate and rehabilitate Maoist combatants as illegal, also accused political parties of opposing the idea of federalism.

Jha, who had earlier courted controversy by taking the oath of office in Hindi, also challenged political parties to bring an impeachment motion against him for speaking against the Special Committee.

Jha, who represented the Madhesi Janadhikar Forum before assuming the office of vice president, had said earlier this week that "since there is a provision in the Constitution that a special committee must comprise representatives of the major political parties, the government should first define what is meant by the major parties."

The committee should be dissolved and a new committee should be formed as per the constitutional provision, Jha had said.

Nepali Congress has also rejected the AISC saying it should include equal number of representatives from Nepali Congress in the committee as NC, UML and MPRF have only one member each while CPN-M has two members.
Source : PTI