Bagmati Province Prepares to Convene Provincial Assembly Amidst Infrastructure Challenges

Hetauda. Preparations are underway to convene the Bagmati Provincial Assembly meeting. The assembly has not met since the Gen-Z protests on Bhadra 23 and 24.

The provincial government is set to decide on calling the winter session of parliament through a cabinet meeting in the coming days. The Congress parliamentary party had urged Chief Minister Indra Bahadur Baniya to call the meeting within a week, and the coalition partner, the UML, has also been continuously increasing pressure.

The last meeting of the Provincial Assembly was held on Shrawan 27. According to a cabinet member, the government is preparing to call the session within the next week.

The minister stated that the cabinet will likely meet within 1-2 days to call the winter session of parliament. On Mangsir 3, the provincial government had decided to end the monsoon session of parliament.

With the parliament meeting set to be called, the Provincial Assembly Secretariat has begun management work. Since the assembly hall destroyed by fire cannot be repaired, the secretariat has arranged to conduct the parliament in the Chief Minister's assembly hall located behind the Hetauda Sub-Metropolitan City office as an alternative.

Preparations are being made to hold the meeting by performing minor repairs on the hall, which suffered damage during the protests. A basic secretariat setup has been arranged in that hall for conducting the assembly, and some chairs and tables have been purchased.

• We have managed amidst the lack of resources and means: Deputy Speaker Chapagain

Deputy Speaker Apsara Chapagain stated that all necessary preparations for calling the Bagmati Provincial Assembly meeting have been completed. She mentioned that the government is preparing to call the parliamentary session, and the cabinet meeting, which will likely sit in a few days, will make a decision on this.

According to Deputy Speaker Chapagain, since Chief Minister Baniya has already informally directed them to complete all processes and be ready, the Provincial Assembly Secretariat has intensified internal preparations. She mentioned that the hall has been managed as an alternative by repairing the damage caused by the Gen-Z protests and recent storms.

Deputy Speaker Chapagain stated that for now, preparations are being made to conduct the meeting temporarily in the municipality hall. She said that since all physical materials of the Provincial Assembly were destroyed due to arson during the Gen-Z protests, the management was done in a very difficult manner.

'The new hall of the Provincial Assembly was completely burned down. Nothing was left. The secretariat building was no longer fit for use. We have managed by repairing the building behind the secretariat. For the assembly hall, work has been done to manage the Chief Minister's assembly hall that was damaged by fire. For now, we have cleaned and polished some chairs and tables that were thrown outside and not burned, making them fit for use,' she said.

Deputy Speaker Chapagain mentioned that since it is not possible to place microphones on all tables at the moment, the technical team is preparing to manage with 4-5 wireless microphones. She clarified that arrangements have been made to proceed with recording and other management with the help of the old technical team.

After facing procedural difficulties in obtaining a new budget, some funds were transferred through the Ministry of Finance to purchase new furniture worth 4-5 lakhs for the secretariat. Deputy Speaker Chapagain informed that cheap furniture was prepared from a factory at a cost of about 3-4 lakhs to operate the house. She stated that the aim is to manage with minimum expenditure to reduce state costs until a permanent structure is built.

With the Gen-Z protests, the post of Speaker in the Bagmati Provincial Assembly is vacant. During the Gen-Z protests, the then Speaker Bhuwan Kumar Pathak announced his resignation through social media and sent a written resignation on Ashoj 1.

It appears that the Provincial Assembly also needs to elect a Speaker. There is a constitutional provision that if the post of Speaker is vacant, a Speaker must be elected through an election process within 15 days of the parliament meeting.

The parties have not even started formal discussions about electing a Speaker. Both the ruling parties, Congress and UML, have claimed the vacant Speaker post, and the main opposition party, NCP, is also claiming the position.

• It is the party's decision that Congress should get the Speaker: Former Chief Minister Lama

Congress MP and former Chief Minister Bahadur Singh Lama said that the parliamentary party meeting has unanimously decided that Congress should get the Speaker. Lama said that although Congress has decided to claim the Speaker, formal discussions with other coalition partners have not yet taken place.

'The party meeting could not be held since Bhadra, it was held just the other day. The meeting has unanimously decided that Congress should get the Speaker post. This is a decision made earlier,' he said, 'The party has decided, but talks with partner parties are yet to happen.'

According to UML MP and Provincial Minister for Physical Infrastructure Development Dr. Dinesh Chandra Devkota, there has been no formal discussion among the ruling coalition parties about conducting the parliament. He said that since the cabinet meeting has not been held either, this issue might be discussed in a few days.

He said that a common position will be formed by discussing the election of the Speaker and future political processes at the party level. He stated that the government is now technically and physically capable of running the Provincial Assembly. He said that the issue of electing a Speaker will be discussed after the parliament starts. He mentioned that he is not aware of any concrete decision or discussion made by the UML on this matter.