Kathmandu, September 2

Nepali Congress and CPN-UML lawmakers of the Parliamentary State Affairs Committee are not in favour of incorporating the right to recall provision in a new election related bill.

This means the provision of right to recall is less likely to be part of the Bill on the Election of Lower House members, which is expected to be finalised on Monday. Right to recall is a process that allows voters to recall their non-performing representatives before their term expires.

SAC member Ananda Prasad Dhungana  of the Nepali Congress told THT that incorporation of the right to recall could invite anomalies. “The time has not come yet to ensure the right to recall and the ‘none of the above’ option column on ballot papers for voters,” Dhungana said, adding, “We have seen that votes of losing candidates are higher than the votes of winners,” he said, and added that opponents could use their power, resources and influence to unseat an elected representative if the right to recall was ensured.

“Even developed countries of Europe and America, which have incorporated the right to recall are facing problems. We may think of introducing this provision in our law after two to three general elections, but not now,” Dhungana said, and added that the right to recall could be better only when voters were educated and could take their decisions independently. “We have seen how money and liquor influence our poor voters,” Dhungana said.

SAC member Rameshwar Phuyal of the CPN-UML told THT that although his party had not taken an official decision on the matter until now, the party was of the view that it was not the right time to ensure ‘the right to recall’.

“The combined votes of losing candidates are far greater than the votes secured by the winning candidates. If we go for right to recall, the losers may invoke this the very next day after election results are announced. The winner in our election system is in minority,” Phuyal added. He said the top leaders of major parties had concluded that ‘right to recall’ should not be part of the bill at least for now.

CPN-Maoist Centre lawmakers Shakti Bahadur Basnet, Ram Narayan Bidari, Janak Raj Joshi, Rekha Sharma, Shyam Kumar Shrestha, Kamala Dong, Anjana Chaudhari, Goma Kunwar, Srijana Taramu Khatri, Rupa Maharjan, Sita Nepali and Dhani Ram Paudel have registered amendment proposals seeking incorporation of right to recall provision in the bill.

Rekha Sharma, who is also the CPN-MC’s chief whip, said her party lawmakers would try their best to convince other members about the need to incorporate the right to recall. “First we will try to win the support of other SAC members, but if we fail to do so, we will reconsider our stance,” she said, adding that her party lawmakers could withdraw their amendments if a deadlock resulted due to failure of the bill. Sharma said this time there was urgency to enact election related bills and hence they did not have enough time to rally support in their favour. “But if we fail to achieve what we want, we will try next time,” she added.

Lawmaker Shyam Kumar Shrestha said right to recall was the only effective check and balance against non-performing and/or corrupt lawmakers. “Some lawmakers do not tend to go to their constituents after they are elected and they act like tyrants,” he said.

Bidari has stated in his proposal that voters of the constituency concerned could recall their MPs if they indulged in corruption, acted against the constitution, law and directive principles of the constitution, and against the manifesto of their parties.

Lawmaker Dhani Ram Paudel stated that an elected member of the lower House could be recalled if two-third majority of the central committee of the lawmaker’s party filed a petition for the same at the Election Commission.

He also stated that  20 per cent voters of a constituency could submit a recall petition to the Election Commission, after which, the EC would hold by-election in the constituency to decide the issue.