Parliament Passes Two Bills Amidst Opposition Protest and Tension

Kathmandu. The House of Representatives met 4 times on Sunday, adjourning and reconvening. The House of Representatives, which became tense amidst the obstruction and protest by opposition parties; Nepali Congress, CPN UML, Nepali Communist Party, Labour Culture Party and Rastriya Prajatantra Party, and the ruling party Rastriya Swatantra Party's MPs, passed two bills. The bills that were passed were the House of Representatives Member Election (First Amendment) Bill, 2083 and the Voter List (First Amendment) Bill 2083. These bills were first passed by the House of Representatives and sent to the National Assembly. The House of Representatives accepted the amendments made by the National Assembly and passed the bills that the National Assembly had sent back after amending them. It was past 10 PM when the House of Representatives accepted the amendments of the National Assembly and passed the bills. Another main thing was that after those bills were passed, Speaker Dol Prasad Aryal authenticated them. And the Federal Parliament Secretariat sent them to the President's Office for authentication at night. And President Ram Chandra Paudel issued a statement authenticating those bills at 11:25 PM. The haste in passing and authenticating the bills by the President was due to time pressure. Any ordinance issued by the government must be presented in the first meeting of the Federal Parliament session after it is convened. The House of Representatives Member Election (First Amendment) Ordinance, 2082 was issued by President Paudel on Poush 4, 082 at the recommendation of the government led by then Sushil Karki. The ordinance to amend the Voter List Act, 2073 was also issued by President Paudel on Ashoj 8, 082 at the recommendation of the Karki-led government. The government made both these ordinances into replacement bills and presented them in the meetings of both houses (House of Representatives and National Assembly) of the Federal Parliament convened after the general election held on Falgun 21, last year, on Chaitra 19. The government-issued ordinances must be presented in the first meeting of the session after it is convened, and must be passed by both houses within 60 days of being presented. If the ordinance is not passed by both houses within 60 days of being presented, authenticated by the Speaker, and certified by the President, its legal validity expires. The legal validity of these two replacement bills was until midnight last night. That is, if the President had not authenticated them by 11:59 PM on Sunday evening, the legal validity of the ordinances would have expired, leading to a state of 'void'. That is why, ignoring the obstruction and tense situation by the opposition, Speaker Aryal repeatedly convened the meeting, passed the bills, got them authenticated, sent them to the President for certification, and the President certified them. Spokesperson of the President's Office, Joint Secretary Ritesh Shakya, informed that after the Federal Parliament Secretariat requested that the law would become inactive, the bills were submitted to the President at night, authenticated, and a statement was issued. "There is time pressure. A situation of legal void was arising. Therefore, an environment should be created for authentication right now," Spokesperson Shakya told Ratopati. "After that, we requested the Honourable President and issued a statement after authentication." Former Secretary of the National Assembly, Rajendra Phuyal, states that ordinances issued by the President at the government's recommendation must be tabled on the first day of the Federal Parliament session convened thereafter, and if they are not passed by both houses and authenticated by the President within 60 days of being tabled, the law ceases to exist. "The law has a provision for the President to issue ordinances at the government's recommendation. After the ordinance is issued, it must be presented in the first meeting of the Federal Parliament convened. " Phuyal told Ratopati. "If the two houses of the Federal Parliament sit one after another, the time starts from the later sitting house, and it must be passed by both houses and authenticated and certified within 60 days. If these tasks are not completed within that time, the law does not remain. There will be a legal void."