The Himalayan Times

Kathmandu

House to dwell on amendment bill today

House to dwell on amendment bill today

By Himalayan News Service

The building of Nepal's Legislature-Parliament.

Kathmandu, February 21 In a bid to address the concerns of Madhes-based parties and hold local level polls on May 14 in a free and fair manner, top leaders have hinted at proceeding with the constitution amendment bill in the Parliament. According to Dil Nath Giri, a leader of Rastriya Prajatantra Party who was present in the all-party meeting, CPN-UML seems to have budged from its stance of not letting the amendment proposal proceed in the House. He said the change in the UML stance meant that they had agreed to vote in favour of the bill. The meeting, called by Prime Minister Pushpa Kamal Dahal at the Parliament building, reached the conclusion after dwelling on local polls, constitution amendment and  the report of the Local Bodies Restructuring Commission. Talking to mediapersons after the meeting, the PM said the amendment bill would be dwelt on in the House tomorrow. He added that the parties had also agreed to address the Madhes issue to hold local polls in a free and fair manner. Nepali Congress President Sher Bahadur Deuba was confident that the UML and the Madhes-based parties would eventually toe the government line. Earlier, Speaker Onsari Gharti Magar adjourned the House scheduled for today till tomorrow. According to her, CPN-UML is against the constitution  amendment bill while the Madhesi parties said they would boycott the House if it was run without dwelling on the amendment bill. “I considered UML Chief Whip Bhanu Bhakta Dhakal’s request to wait one more day for consensus,” said Gharti. She hoped that before the House met tomorrow the parties would be able to forge consensus. Madhesis boycott all-party meet KATHMANDU: The agitating Madhes-based parties boycotted the all-party meeting called by the prime minister on Tuesday. “The dialogue has given us nothing so far,” said Laxman Lal Karna, who is Co-Chairperson of Sadbhawana Party. He, however, said if the government proceeded with the revised constitutional amendment bill the agitating Madhesi forces would vote in its favour.