Ordinance Agenda Removed from National Assembly Calendar

According to the news summary, the parliamentary calendar has removed the potential agenda to advance ordinances, and no meetings are scheduled until Jestha 15. The government has already presented eight ordinances to the parliament, but if both houses fail to approve them, the ordinances will automatically lapse. Opposition parties have already submitted notices to reject the ordinances, and the decision to move forward depends on the government’s preparations.

Jestha 7, Kathmandu – The National Assembly’s calendar has removed the potential schedule to advance ordinances. The updated probable meeting agenda of the National Assembly on Baisakh 24 mentioned that ordinances would be presented for decisions. Had a meeting been held on Thursday, the government would have proceeded to approve these ordinances that were introduced during a time without a parliamentary session. However, the parliamentary secretariat has issued a new calendar removing the agenda to present ordinances for decision.

The updated parliamentary calendar on Jestha 5 lists no meeting for Thursday. Furthermore, no dates up to Jestha 15 include any discussion on advancing ordinances.

Congress MP Krishna Bahadur Rokaya said that the initially scheduled meeting was easily amended. He stated, “Meetings were scheduled for both yesterday and today, but both were postponed. Along with that, the agenda to advance the ordinances was also postponed.”

The National Assembly Secretary Tul Bahadur Kandel explained that the government will only proceed with the ordinance agenda when it is ready. He told this news outlet, “The government is not prepared to move the ordinances forward. Due to the government’s unreadiness, it has been temporarily postponed.”

During the absence of a parliamentary session, the government introduced eight ordinances. These include the Public Procurement (Second Amendment), Special Provisions regarding Dismissal of Public Officials, Constitutional Council (Functions, Duties, Powers, and Procedures) (First Amendment), and others. Also included are the Property Purification (Money Laundering) Prevention (Third Amendment), amendments to several Nepal Acts, Cooperatives (First Amendment), Health Science Institute related amendments, and university-related amendments.

These ordinances have been presented in both houses of the Federal Parliament, the House of Representatives and the National Assembly. Introduced in both houses on Baisakh 28, the decision to approve or reject these ordinances must be made by both chambers. According to Article 114 of the Constitution, once an ordinance is issued, it must be submitted to both houses and will automatically become invalid if not approved by both. This necessitates the approval of the ordinances by both chambers.

In the National Assembly, ruling party National People’s Party members have shown low attendance. Of the 59 voting members, the Nepali Congress with 24 seats is the largest party. The house includes 17 from the Nepal Communist Party, 10 from the CPN-UML, 2 from JSP, 1 from LSP, 1 from National People’s Front, and 2 members nominated by the President.

Opposition parties have also registered notices requesting the rejection of the ordinances. The CPN-UML has filed notices demanding rejection of all eight ordinances. The Nepal Communist Party has submitted notices to reject four, and the Nepali Congress has submitted notices to reject two ordinances. Congress has registered notices to reject only the Constitutional Council and certain Nepal Acts amendment bills. The Nepal Communist Party has requested rejection of the ordinances related to the Constitutional Council, certain Nepal Acts amendments, dismissal of public officials, and university-related ordinances.

The National Assembly had initially scheduled to present these ordinances for decision on Jestha 7 and formulated the parliamentary calendar accordingly; however, this was ultimately revised. Only after both houses approve the ordinances can the government proceed to introduce replacement bills.

Similarly, the House of Representatives has yet to include the advancement of ordinances in its agenda. The House of Representatives has published the parliamentary calendar until Asar 15, which does not include any topic related to advancing ordinances. Therefore, although the National Assembly had drafted a possible agenda, the ordinance agenda has been removed from the parliamentary calendar.

Leaders have indicated that the timing for advancing ordinances will depend on the government’s preparedness and policy decisions.