MAY 15

Three major political parties – the Nepali Congress, main opposition the CPN-UML and CPN-Maoist Centre – have buried their differences over the Truth and Reconciliation Bill (TRC), Constitutional Council (CC) Bill and leadership in the parliamentary committees. They resolved their differences amidst the arrest of high-profile politicians and an incumbent government secretary in the fake Bhutanese refugee scam that has tarnished the national image in the international community. As per the understanding reached among NC boss Sher Bahadur Deuba, main opposition leader KP Oli and chair of the CPN-Maoist Centre Prime Minister Pushpa Kamal Dahal, the TRC Bill will be discussed in a sub-committee of the concerned thematic committee, instead of the UML's earlier demand that it be discussed in a special committee. Initially, the ruling alliance wanted to pass the TRC Bill through a fasttrack.

The existing TRC Bill, tabled by the government in the House of Representatives (HoR), has proposed giving blanket amnesty to those involved in serious human rights abuses. The proposal has drawn flak from the conflict victims, rights activists as well as the international community.

The three leaders have also agreed to pass the CC Bill, which will take decisions on a majority basis even though the PM, who heads the CC meeting, is in a minority. The PM is in a minority in the current composition of the six-member CC. The Speaker, National Assembly chairman, Deputy Speaker and main opposition leader make up the majority against the PM in the CC meeting. Considering the composition of the current CC, the PM and the NC wanted to in-corporate a provision that would give more power to the PM when it comes to taking a decision in appointing member(s) in the constitutional bodies and ambassadorial posts. Many constitutional positions, including that of the Chief Justice, have fallen vacant due to the indecision of the CC for a long time.

The three major parties have also agreed to share 10 thematic parliamentary committees among them. The UML will get three committees, including the Public Accounts Committee. Once the Parliamentary Hearing Committee (PHC) is formed, the process of appointing acting Chief Justice (CJ) Harikrishna Karki as the CJ will begin. Leadership in the judiciary has remained vacant for the last 15 months because of the differences among the political parties and absence of the PHC for a long time.

The parties have violated the constitution by not appointing the CJ in time as per the constitutional provision.

While it is a positive sign that the parties have buried their differences on key issues, they also should have roped in Rastriya Swatantra Party (RSP) and Rastriya Prajatantra Party (RPP), both of which are also nationally-recognised parties. The RSP and RPP are also major political forces in the hung parliament.

Excluding them from taking their consent on major issues that require national consensus is undermining the popular mandate that the RSP and RPP have received in the general election. The parties should have formed all the thematic committees shortly after the commencement of the new HoR session. The thematic committees play major roles in fine-tuning the bills as per the consensus among the parties represented in the parliament.

A version of this article appears in the print on May 16, 2023, of The Himalayan Times.