Kathmandu, September 10

The government today registered a new bill at the Parliament Secretariat on reconstruction of earthquake affected structures with a view to operate the reconstruction authority after the bill, already registered in parliament to replace the ordinance related to it could not meet the constitutional deadline for the same.

The new bill registered by the Ministry of Law, Justice, Constituent Assembly and Parliamentary Affairs late evening today, has changed some already proposed provisions, according to sources.

The authority will have three layers – Consultative Committee headed by Prime Minister, Steering Committee headed by PM and two ministers designated by the PM and Executive Committee headed by the Chief Executive Officer, as  per the provisions proposed in the bill.

The government had issued an ordinance on June 22 and it had registered the replacement bill on August 1. However, the replacement bill could not be endorsed within 60 days after the ongoing Parliament session began as provisioned in the Interim Constitution.

The new bill mentions the provision that will allow the government to continue the activities of the authority. The government is also preparing to continue the appointment of Govinda Pokhrel as its Chief Executive Officer, as was done in the ordinance.

The government registered a bill yesterday seeking amendment to the Interim Constitution to extend the five-year term of a political party’s working committee by six months. The bill was registered as NC will not be able to hold its National General Convention within five years. The NC’s Central Working Committee’s five-year term is expiring from September 22. This bill will move ahead only if the process of promulgating the new constitution is delayed.