House puts off discussion on amendment bill till Thursday

KATHMANDU: The Legislature-Parliament held its meeting after 13 days on Tuesday. The House business, however, did not include the discussion on the constitution amendment bill.

After a sitting for about 40 minutes, Speaker Onsari Gharti deferred the House till 11 am Thursday.

Prior to the House meeting, top leaders of major parties met at the Parliament building and decided to withhold the constitution amendment process till Thursday as negotiations with the agitating United Democratic Madhesi Front were underway.

On the recommendation of the major parties, Speaker Gharti excluded clause-wise discussion on the Bill on First Amendment of Constitution of Nepal in today's House business.

As per the understanding made among the Nepali Congress, CPN-UML and UCPN-Maoist, the House would proceed begin discussion on the bill on Thursday while the leaders of major parties would be simultaneously holding talks with the UDMF to address their demands through amendment process.

As many as 24 amendment proposals have been registered at the House.

But if the negotiations with the UDMF could not bear any fruit till Saturday, according to leaders, then the three parties would forge opt for amending the constitution through voting process as per the Parliament Regulations.

(With input from Prakash Acharya at Parliament)

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