Nepal’s Parliament Struggles with Lack of Business

Nepal’s Parliament is struggling to function due to a lack of business, with the government failing to introduce sufficient bills for discussion.

Speaker of the House of Representatives, Dol Prasad Aryal, held a meeting with the secretaries of the parliamentary committees on Friday to discuss the issue.

According to the Federal Parliament Secretariat, the government has committed to providing business to the Parliament, but the number of bills registered is low.

Only 10 bills have been passed by the House of Representatives since the current session began on 21 Falgun 2082.

Low Productivity

The first session of the House of Representatives lasted only six days, from 19 Chait to 27 Chait, while the second session, which started on 28 Vaisakh, has been ongoing for 32 days.

During this period, 35 meetings have been held, but the productivity of the House has been low.

‘The fact that only 10 bills have been passed in 38 days is a concern,’ said Ekram Giri, Secretary and Spokesperson of the Federal Parliament Secretariat.

Lack of Bills

The House of Representatives has a few bills under consideration, but the National Assembly has no bills to discuss.

The lack of business has led to the postponement of meetings of both the House of Representatives and the National Assembly for two weeks.

The meetings are scheduled to resume on Ashar 14 and Ashar 15, respectively, but there is still a lack of sufficient business.

Government’s Priorities

The government has announced plans to introduce 166 bills in the current session, but most of these bills are still in the drafting stage.

The Ministry of Law, Justice, and Parliamentary Affairs has announced plans to make the current year the ‘Year of Law Making’ and has submitted a list of 166 bills to the Federal Parliament Secretariat.

The list prioritizes the bills, with 64 bills to be introduced in the first four months, followed by 45 bills in the next four months, and 57 bills in the final four months.

Concerns over Federalism

However, the government’s priorities have raised concerns, with some key bills related to the implementation of federalism being pushed back.

Eight bills related to land management, cooperatives, poverty alleviation, and federal affairs are to be introduced within a year, but only three of these are prioritized.

The first bill on the list is the Federal Civil Service Bill, which is yet to be introduced.