Government Faces Challenge Advancing Bill in National Assembly
The government is facing difficulties advancing the Voter List Act Amendment Bill in the National Assembly after amendment proposals were submitted following its passage in the House of Representatives. Due to the lack of consensus among parties on the bill’s content, the National Assembly meeting was postponed without including the bill on the agenda. The ruling Rastriya Swatantra Party (RSP), which has a strong presence in the House of Representatives, lacks representation in the National Assembly, necessitating inter-party agreement to pass the bill. Kathmandu, 17 Jestha.
The government is struggling to forward the bill in the National Assembly. There are two bills passed by the House of Representatives scheduled for passage in the National Assembly today. However, accepting amendments proposed in the National Assembly has posed a problem for the government. Some of the proposed amendments alter the core intent of the Voter List Act Amendment Bill. The government is thus compelled to engage with the MPs proposing the amendments to move forward.
To include voters omitted from the voter list for the 21 Falgun elections, the government had issued an ordinance. This bill replaces that ordinance. Section 4, Subsection (2k) of the bill states, “Notwithstanding anything in Subsection (2), in the event the House of Representatives is dissolved and an election date declared before its term ends, the commission may set a period for the collection, registration, and updating of the voter list for the election purpose.”
The bill seeks to formalize the ordinance’s provisions into law. However, communist MP Roshani Meche, among others from the CPN-UML, has demanded full removal of this clause. The disagreement over this issue affected the National Assembly session on Sunday. Scheduled for 11:15 AM, the meeting began an hour late, ran zero hour discussions, and was postponed without entering the agenda. The 20-minute recess since then has not yet ended the session.
According to Nepali Congress MP Ranjit Karn, no agreement has been reached on the practical approach. “Legal wording and related issues are still under discussion,” he said. Minister for Law, Justice, and Parliamentary Affairs Sovita Gautam is leading the government’s side in the talks. The ruling RSP has a two-thirds majority in the House of Representatives despite being short two seats but lacks presence in the National Assembly. Therefore, bills passing easily in the lower house require party-level discussions upon reaching the upper house. In the 59-member National Assembly, Nepali Congress is the largest party with 24 members, followed by the Nepali Communist Party with 17, CPN-UML with 10, JSP Nepal with 2, and one member each from Losp and the Rastriya Janamorcha. The President nominates three members, of which two are currently serving while one seat remains vacant.