Chairman of the Constitutional-Political Dialogue and Consensus Committee Baburam Bhattarai today said if forces that joined hands together after the 12-point agreement failed to forge consensus on constitutional issues, the country could witness serious conflict.

Tabling the fifth report of the CPDCC at the Constituent Assembly, Bhattarai said parties needed to avoid conflict even if they had to make some unpalatable decisions.

Quoting American economist John Kenneth Galbraith, Bhattarai said, “Politics is not the art of the possible. It consists in choosing between the disastrous and the unpalatable.” Bhattarai said if all parties and CA members were ready to show flexibility on deadlines and contents of the new constitution, they could still forge consensus reports The Himalayan Times.