Skip to main content

Amendment put on hold



As a series of attempts by the government to forge consensus in favor of the bill to amend the Constitution couldn't make any headway, the ruling parties' plans to register the bill in Parliament has now been deferred at least for a few days.

Prime Minister Pushpa Kamal Dahal had earlier announced that the amendment bill would be registered  by mid-November, and later on various ministers had spoken about the government's plan to endorse the bill through the cabinet meeting on Sunday and forward it to Parliament later the same day.

Following the prime minister's announcement, the agitating Madhes-based parties had given him a 15-day deadline to register the bill. That deadline expired on Monday.

However, the government couldn't move ahead as per its plan as changes proposed in the amendment sparked disputes within both the major ruling partners - CPN (Maoist Center) and Nepali Congress. Also, the agitating parties have refused to commit themselves to endorsing the bill.

A senior minister said that the government is in a 'wait and see' mode while putting the amendment process on hold. The government changed its approach after its efforts to bring the Madhes-based parties on board the amendment process yielded no result.

Prime Minister Pushpa Kamal Dahal decided to put the amendment proposal on hold for now after his meeting with Upendra Yadav of Federal Socialist Forum Nepal (FSFN), the largest among the constituent parties of the United Democratic Madhesi Front (UFMD), couldn't reach any agreement.

“The government has decided to put the amendment process on hold for now because we found the agitating parties to be not positive of late,” said Minister for Physical Infrastructure and Transport Ramesh Lekhak of NC.

The ruling parties changed their plan also because the agitating side didn't agree with the government condition that they commit themselves to taking part in the three sets of elections to be held by January 2018. 

“Prime Minister left no stone unturned to garner a two-thirds majority in Parliament in favor of the amendment proposal but the agitating parties remained noncommittal,” Minister for Law, Justice and Parliamentary Affairs Ajay Shankar Nayak told Republica.

According to his close aides, Prime Minister Dahal has started consultations with other leaders about exploring new options in the changed context.

“Prime Minister is also holding discussions on whether the major three political parties can come together on the issue of amendment,” said Dahal's press coordinator, Govinda Acharya. “If the parties entrust him with the responsibility of bringing an acceptable proposal, he is ready for that as well.”
For Dahal, pushing the amendment proposal became more challenging because lawmakers of the ruling NC and Maoist Center have been mounting pressure against the proposal for changing the delineations of provinces 5, 4 and 6. 

A possible revolt within the ruling parties and strong objections by the main opposition CPN-UML exerted pressure on the government to put the amendment proposal on hold, said sources.

The amendment bill proposes to revise the provincial boundaries in Provinces 5, 4 and 6, and amend provisions related to marital naturalized citizenship, representation in the National Assembly and the languages of official business. 

Meanwhile, expressing concern over the constitution amendment process, President Bidya Devi Bhandari held a meeting with the top leaders of the major three political parties on Monday. 

PM Dahal, NC President Sher Bahadur Deuba and CPN-UML Chairman K P Oli spent around three hours at the office of the president in the evening to brief the head of state on the latest political stalemate.

“She suggested to the leaders to work together to settle the issue and join hands for holding elections,” said the president's personal secretary, Bheshraj Adhikari.

Ashok Dahal
Published in: MyRepublica
29/11/2016

Comments

Popular posts from this blog

India Government raises grant for Nepal by 17 percent

India Government raises grant for Nepal by 17 percent The Indian government has pledged to extend 17 percent more in financial aid to Nepal in the next fiscal year, indicating greater enthusiasm of the southern neighbour to support the landlocked country’s development endeavours. The Indian government has allocated a grant of IRs3.75 billion (Rs6 billion) for Nepal in 2017-18, as against IRs3.20 in 2016-17. The allocation was made through the Union Budget 2017-18 launched by Indian Finance Minister Arjun Jaitely on Wednesday.  In addition to the amount, India has also pledged to extend a grant of IRs113.30 million to Nepal Police Academy in 2017-18, the Indian budget document says. The grant pledged for Nepal in 2017-18 is second highest among South Asian countries, with Bhutan leading the pack. The Indian government has expressed commitment to extend IRs37.14 billion in grant to Bhutan in 2017-18. The amount, however, is 4 percent lower than in 2016-17. In total, Ind...

Landless quake victims: Why are we deprived of state aid?

Gothelal BK of Nalang village of Dhading district feels helpless as he watches his villagers building houses at war footing. Seeing them, this homeless man does not know how to make one for his family. The government did not provide him the earthquake assistance grant distributed to quake victims because he did not have land registered in his name. “All the villagers will soon move into their new houses. But my family is doomed to live in tents. The government did not provide us the grant that it distributed to villagers. Neither did it provide us land,” BK shared with a feeling of being helpless against what he thinks as ‘state’s injustice’ to people like him.  BK’s family has been living in a hut covered with plastic sheets after the earthquake rendered them homeless in April 2015. Just like other quake victims, he also waited for nearly two years to start building new home. But his hopes were dashed. Every day when he sees his villagers’ houses coming into shape, he feels...

Women, Dalit, marginalized representation to increase

Parliament is set to endorse the Local Level Election Bill that sets out criteria to significantly increase the representation of women, Dalits and marginalized groups in local bodies from the upcoming local elections. The new bill, that is likely to be endorsed on Thursday as none of the major political parties have opposed it, will replace the existing Local Body Election Act 2048 BS. The new bill makes it mandatory to field the candidacy of at least one woman either for the post of chief or deputy chief at village councils, municipalities and district coordination committees. “Political parties must maintain at least 50 percent women’s representation for the posts of either chief or deputy chief while fielding candidates for village councils, municipalities and district coordination committees,” reads Clause 17 (4) of the bill endorsed by parliament’s State Affairs Committee. Women and Dalits respectively constitute over 51 percent and about 13 percent of the total populatio...