Skip to main content

Amendment proposal at behest of India: Oppn MPs


Opposition lawmakers have claimed that the government registered the constitution amendment bill in Parliament at the behest of India. The opposition parties obstructed the meeting of Parliament for the third consecutive time on Sunday, demanding the withdrawal of the amendment bill, which proposes reviewing the province boundaries, the citizenship provisions and the criteria for representation in the National Assembly.

“It will be treachery if the constitution, which was promulgated with the backing of 90 percent of people's representatives, is amended on the instructions of any foreign country,” said Nepal Workers Peasants Party (NWPP) lawmaker Anuradha Thapa Magar while speaking at the House, Sunday. Lawmakers from opposition parties, including the CPN-UML, CPN (ML), NWPP, Rartriya Janamorcha and Nepa Party, stood up at their respective places and obstructed House proceedings right after Speaker Onsari Gharti announced commencement of the meeting.

As Speaker Gharti allowed the opposition parties to put forth their demands, NWPP lawmaker Thapa Magar argued that the amendment proposal follows the Research and Analysis Wing (RAW) plan of merging Nepal into India. RAW is the.Indian Secret Service Agency. Referring to the book 'Mission R&AW' written by former RAW officer RK Yadav, lawmaker Thapa Magar claimed that the amendment bill was a step toward splitting the tarai away from Nepal as part of the RAW plan. “If this proposal is endorsed it will result in the risk of foreign nationals having a majority in the government and parliament of Nepal, thus paving the way for merging the country with India in the same manner that Sikkim was merged,” said Thapa Magar. 

She further expressed her objections to the recent activities of Indian ambassador Ranjit Rae. The Indian envoy had summoned top leaders of the United Democratic Madhesi Front (UDMF) on Saturday and urged them to support the government's constitution amendment bill.

Thapa Magar claimed that former RAW chief Alok Joshi has been in Kathmandu since 15 days back to press the political parties to endorse the bill. She claimed that the unification of the Rastriya Prajatantra Party (RPP) and Rastriya Prajatantra Party-Nepal (RPP-N) was designed by Joshi, adding that he was plotting to bring about a split in the UML. RPP lawmaker Sushil Kumar Shrestha objected to Thapa Magar's statement, calling it a false allegation. He demanded that the Speaker erase the statement from House records.
All the RPP parliamentarians then stood up to protest Thapa Magar's allegations.  Thapa Magar was quick to defend herself, arguing that she had quoted news stories in an online news portal. Speaker Onsari Gharti then instructed the parliament secretariat to delete the lawmaker's statement.

Thapa Magar further claimed that Article 274(1) of the Constitution bars any constitutional amendment that is against the national interest and national sovereignty. Following the obstruction by lawmakers, the meeting was deferred till Wednesday afternoon.

MyRepublica

05-12-2016

Comments

Post a Comment

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...
Post a Comment
Read more

UML trying to create rift between hills and Tarai: Deuba

Nepali Congress (NC) President Sher Bahadur Deuba has accused the main Opposition, the CPN-UML, of trying to create rift between the hill and Madhes communities. “The government has registered a constitution amendment bill in parliament to establish peace in Tarai-Madhes. But the UML has been obstructing the House in protest of the bill. The UML is thus trying to create a rift between the hills and the Tarai,” said Deuba. Speaking at a national gathering of Treasurers of NC in the capital on Friday, Deuba said that by obstructing the House, the UML was expressing its anger for having to quit government. “Parties form and leave government in a democracy. It is a normal process. It is not appropriate to hold the House a hostage just because you (UML) have to leave the government,” he said. Deuba also claimed that UML Chairman KP Sharma Oli had already given his nod to the kind of constitution amendment bill registered by the government. “But now he is obstructing the b...
Post a Comment
Read more

UML tells neighbors not to interfere in Nepal's internal affairs

  Main opposition CPN-UML has asked the neighboring countries and the international community to refrain from expressing gratuitous concerns over Nepal's internal affairs, taking sides and intervening into domestic issues. The second-largest party has also claimed that Nepal's political parties and the people are capable enough to handle internal issues and that Nepal is well able to steer the country in the direction of progress. “We expect goodwill of friends from across the world in favor of Nepal. But, we appeal to the neighboring countries and the international community to refrain from expressing gratuitous concerns over Nepal's internal affairs, taking sides, and intervening into domestic issues and any other such activities,” read a statement issued by party spokesman Yogesh Bhattarai after a standing committee meeting of the party on Monday. The main opposition UML, which has been leading protests in various districts and obstructing parliament procee...
Post a Comment
Read more