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Final sitting of reinstated House underway, MPs discuss interim statute

Monday - 15th January 2007

KATHMANDU, Jan 15 - The last sitting of the House Of Representatives, reinstated after the success of the April Movement, has begun at the Gallery Baithak at Singha Durbar.

The HOR will issue the Interim Constitution and will be dissolved automatically, paving ways for the 330 - member Interim Legislature.

The Interim Legislature, include the Maoists will ratify the Interim Constitution.

Speaker Subash Nemwang announced the commencement of today's session of the House at around 9:05 this morning.

Today’s session of the House began with the chairman of the Parliamentary Accounts Committee (PAC) Chitra Bahadur KC submitting the 14th PAC report to the speaker.

KC highlighted the main points of the report before the HoR, prior to the submission.

Likewise, coordinator of the parliamentary probe on the Belbari and Nuwakot massacres, MP Pari Thapa also read out the highlights of the probe’s report on the two killings before submitting the report to the speaker of the house.

Presenting his views during the House session today, NC-D President Sher Bahadur Deuba hailed the soon-to-be promulgated interim constitution as a "document of consensus" between the Seven Party Alliance and the Maoists.

Deuba also assured that the interim statute and the interim legislature would come into effect today itself.

Nepali Congress leader Sushil Koirala also presented the NC’s views on the interim statute.

CPN-UML Bharat Mohan Adhikary presented the party’s interim constitution amendment suggestions.

Stating that a provision for referendum should be included in the Interim statute to decide the fate of Monarchy, Adhikary also demanded a proportional electoral system instead of the mixed system as mentioned in the soon-to-be promulgated statute.

Similarly, stating that there were no laws as of yet to punish those identified as guilty by the Rayamajhi commission in the heavy handed suppression of the April pro democracy movement, Adhikary appealed for the inclusion of a new provision to this end in the interim constitution.

Furthermore, the UML leader also urged for a provision to have the serving Prime Minister removed -- if need be – adding that the present constitution could very well render the PM an all powerful dictator.

Likewise, Rastriya Prajantra Party (RPP) president Pashupati Shamshere Rana expressed concerns said that the interim statute was being promulgated without following any parliamentary norms.

Rana further said that the interim constitution, which is the nation's governing body of rules, was being promulgated in haste without any regards for the existing parliamentary norms.

"The opinion that the interim constitution should be amended prior to its promulgation is gaining strength," Rana opined, adding that all quarters of society including the media, professional organizations, bar associations are all of one voice regarding the amendments.

The RPP chairman further said that the interim constitution had "neglected" the women, nationalities, muslims, jajajatis and other marginalized groups.

Rana also warned that the RPP would boycott the house if the amendment proposal is not heeded.

"The soon-to-be promulgated interim constitution has rendered the parliament merely a rubber stamp," Rana said.

Likewise, MP Chitra Bahadur KC said that the decision to make the serving Prime Minister all-powerful was in violation of the universal notion of separation of Power, adding that the interim statute had served only to establish what he called an "eight party monopoly".


Source ekantipur.com