The Constituent Assembly (CA) meeting that continued from Thursday morning was adjourned amid strong protests by opposition lawmakers without entering into its scheduled business on midnight

As the CA’s deadline for promulgating a new constitution expired on Thursday, the parties succeeded neither in settling major thorny issues nor could put the disputes to vote.

The Constituent Assembly, constituted for the second time, has missed the self-imposed deadline for promulgation of new constitution as opposition parties obstructed the CA proceedings till late evening, compelling CA Chairman Subas Chandra Nembang to prorogue its 91st meeting.

Though elected for four years, the CA II had set January 22 as the date to deliver the constitution. But the CA failed to deliver the constitution today as the major parties could not forge consensus on some crucial issues and the opposition protested the ruling parties' intent to resort to the process as defined by the CA Regulation.

The 19 parties, including UCPN-Maoist and Madhesi parties, continued obstructing the resumed meeting of CA for three hours this evening also.

Then amid sloganeering, Nembang urged the opposition parties to end the obstruction in order to continue the task of constitution-drafting, reminding them of the commitments that they had made earlier.

Saying the obstruction was dishonour to the people's mandate and the Interim Constitution, Nembang urged the parties to end it and resort to the process while exploring scope of consensus and cooperation simultaneously.

"If obstruction is established as a culture then it is clear that the constitution could not be made from the Constitution Assembly."

Emerging from the CA hall, UCPN-Maoist Chairman Pushpa Kamal Dahal charged that today's deadline was missed because of the ruling parties Nepali Congress and CPN-UML reports THT online.