The parliament session called on Sunday to table the bill proposing the tenure extension of the CA has been postponed till Monday, 3 pm. The political parties were busy discussing the working schedule till late evening as the main opposition Nepali Congress opposed the bill.
The parliament was to hold a discussion on the note-of-dissent tabled by RPP-Nepal prior to permitting the government to table the bill. The bill will be tabled in the parliament only if the House quashes the note of dissent by a majority.
If the opposition parties want to prevent the bill from passing in the parliament, they have to either vote for the note-of-dissent or vote against the bill. Since the government already has the majority, the opposition will have no incentive to vote for the note-of-dissent. But the government’s proposed amendment bill would require two-third majority in the parliament for which the it needs support of the NC and other parties. This has brought the leaders of three major parties in a table for talks.
Prime Minister Jhala Nath Khanal and NC’s parliamentary party leader Ram Chandra Poudel and the Maoist Chairman Pushpa Kamal Dahal held a meeting regarding the extension of the CA term inside the CA building. NC and Madhesi alliance have put forward conditions for extending the CA terms which includes resignation of the PM. But the talk ended inconclusively. The leaders have agreed to hold another round of talks tomorrow morning to reach a consensus, Maoist leader Narayan Kaji Shrestha told reporters.
Meanwhile, four lawmakers who have been obstructing the parliament session for a long time, put off their protest after holding talks with the leaders of the UCPN (Maoist), NC and the UML in a meeting convened by Speaker Subhash Chandra Nembwang. Biswendra Pashwan of Dalit Janajati Party, Buddha Ratna Manandhar of Nepa: Party, Rukmini Chaudhary of Sanghiya Loktantrik Manch and independent lawmaker Sardul Miya Haq were obstructing the parliament session as well as the Constitutional Committee meetings demanding that the rights of marginalised communities be ensured in the new constitution. The three major parties assured them that their demands will be addressed within 15 days.