“Last session was prorogued due to absence of NC lawmakers in the House”

Kathmandu, April 22

Minister of Law, Justice and Parliamentary Affairs Agni Prasad Kharel today said the government would soon call the next session of the Parliament.

He, however, did not specify any date for the same.

Speaking at a press conference organised by the ministry here today, Kharel said the last Parliament session was prorogued on the request of the Nepali Congress leaders who were busy with their party’s 13th General Convention.

Kharel said the NC was unnecessarily blaming the ruling parties for not calling the next session of the Parliament. Kharel said the last session of Parliament was prorogued due to absence of NC lawmakers in the House.

He said NC lawmakers’ absence in the Parliament resulted in lack of quorum in the House.

“Session of Parliament cannot be called on one party’s demand,” he said and added that the NC was trying to gain cheap publicity by blaming government for delay in calling the next session of the Parliament.

On the occasion, spokesperson for the ministry Dilli Raj Ghimire said laws on 138 themes needed to be enacted in order to implement the new constitution. He added that laws on 110 of 138 themes were linked to federal laws.

Secretary of the Ministry Tek Prasad Dhungana said the ministry was prepared to enact new laws and was in a position to introduce almost two dozen new bills in the new session of the Parliament.

He said the ministry had received permission from the Cabinet to make dozens of new laws.

On a different note the minister said if the opposition parties did not support government’s moves to implement the constitution, the new statute might never be implemented.

Expressing dissatisfaction over delay in the formulation of new Parliamentary Regulations by the Parliamentary Regulations Drafting Committee, he said new regulations should incorporate the provisions of the constitution.

Nepali Congress and the ruling parties, particularly the CPN-UML, are at loggerheads over the strength of PHC, with the former favouring 73-75-member PHC and the latter favouring only 15-member parliamentary panel as provisioned in the new constitution.

Kharel said the constitution stipulated that the high courts should be formed within one year of the date of the promulgation of new constitution and he was confident that this provision would be implemented within that time frame.

He, however, said the news reports that the government was trying to bring an ordinance to make changes in the Judicial Administration Act, in order to govern the process of the formation of high courts were only rumours.

Minister Kharel said more laws needed to be enacted because the constitution envisaged similar bodies but their works would be different.

Secretary to the Ministry of Law, Justice and Parliamentary Affairs Tek Prasad Dhungana said he was hopeful that the government would call the next session of the Parliament within 20 days.