kathmandu – As preparations begin for the winter session of the federal parliament to begin in the first week of January, the opposition claims the government wants to postpone it.
Prime Minister KP Sharma Oli, Speaker Devraj Ghimire and Law, Justice and Parliamentary Affairs Minister Ajay Chaurasiya held informal discussions on Friday to take stock of the bills that may be introduced to lawmakers. The budget session of Parliament adjourned on September 17, a few weeks before the big festive season begins, but without enough bills for consideration.
“Discussions are ongoing to ensure that there is sufficient business for the upcoming session. We hope that the House of Representatives committee will finalize some bills and the government will also register new bills at the beginning of the new session. According to the records of the Parliamentary Secretariat, the parliamentary committee received 20 bills.
Some of the proposals have been pending for more than a year as the committee failed to finalize them. The Finance Committee is considering five bills, while the National Affairs and Good Governance Committee has four bills to decide on. Similarly, the Infrastructure Development Committee; the Education, Health and Information Committee; and the Law, Justice and Human Rights Committee each have at least one bill that needs to be discussed and finalized.
At least twice in the past two months, Ghimire asked the chairpersons of committees in the House of Representatives and the National Assembly to finalize the bill in the presence of the party whip and submit it to the plenary session of the House. However, so far, the committee has not finalized any of the bills.
Joria said there would be no shortage of business if some pending bills were passed by the committee and some new bills would also be registered by the government. The government has not registered any bills since July.
“Our department is reviewing different bills drafted by various ministries,” said Parliamentary Affairs Minister Chaurasia. Draft bills related to the unbundling of the Civil Aviation Authority of Nepal, integrated electoral laws, and amendments to the Nepal Police Act are under review.
The cabinet must approve bills drafted by ministries before they can be registered in parliament. Such bills are first discussed in the plenary session of the House and then sent to respective committees for streamlined amendments. They must pass the House and Senate and receive the presidential seal before becoming law.
Officials at the parliamentary secretariat said the government was under pressure to convene the session early amid concerns that the opposition might demand a special session. “We have heard that the opposition may demand a special session, claiming that the government wants to postpone the winter session,” a senior secretariat official said. “However, I understand that discussions have already taken place between the government and the Speaker about a new conference. It should start in a few weeks.
Dahal, while addressing a party event last week, alleged that the Oli government was reluctant to convene the winter session for fear of facing criticism. The main opposition is seeking a platform to criticize the government, which it claims promotes corruption and shields the corrupt. Likewise, the Rastriya Swatantra Party, which claims the government is targeting its president by prolonging his corruption trial, is also waiting for an opportunity to attack the government.
A quarter of the 275 members of the House of Commons can petition the President to call a special session of Parliament.
The last winter session begins on February 5th. The interval between meetings cannot exceed six months.
Several bills to fully implement the new constitution have yet to be passed. A group under the National Assembly’s Legislation Management Committee reported that the government still needs to prepare 39 bills. The five-member panel, headed by Beduram Bhusal, accused successive governments of paying little attention to the legal arrangements necessary for full implementation of the Charter. Since the promulgation of the constitution in 2015, seven governments have been formed in Nepal, led by the Nepali Congress, the Communist Party of Nepal-United Marxist-Leninist and the Communist Party of Nepal (Maoist Centre).
