Kathmandu, March 5

The candidate for the post of chairperson of the Muslim Commission, who allegedly submitted a fake citizenship certificate to bag the post, may get to head the constitutional body due to indecisiveness of the Parliamentary Hearing Committee.

The Constitutional Council, which is led by Prime Minister KP Sharma Oli, had recommended Samim Miya Ansari for the post of chairperson of the Muslim Commission. The council, on January 24, had forwarded his name to the PHC for its nod. PHC gets 45 days to either approve or reject candidates recommended by the council. If the committee fails to decide within this period, the candidate is considered eligible for the post.

This deadline to approve or reject the candidacy of Ansari is expiring on Saturday. But the committee has not been able to decide on Ansari. Committee members representing the ruling Nepal Communist Party (NCP) do not want to see Ansari as the head of the Muslim Commission. But they have not rejected his candidacy because they haven’t mustered support of two-thirds of committee members.

The committee comprises 15 members, of which nine are from the ruling NCP, four from the Nepali Congress, and one each from the Rastriya Janata Party-Nepal and the Federal Socialist Forum-Nepal. Of the 15, nine NCP members are against approving Ansari’s candidacy. But they need at least 10 votes to reject his candidacy.

So far, Nepali Congress members have boycotted committee meetings, as they were not invited by the Constitutional Council during its January 20 meeting when chairpersons of five constitutional bodies were nominated. Rajendra Shrestha, another committee member representing the Federal Socialist Forum-Nepal, has also boycotted meetings, as the chief of his party is said to be unhappy with appointments made by the government. On the other hand, committee Chairman Laxman Lal Karna from the Rastriya Janata Party-Nepal, can only cast his ballot if there is a tie in the voting process.

“If we fail to get support of at least 10 lawmakers by Saturday, Ansari will automatically become the head of the Muslim Commission,” said an NCP committee member.

Right after the Constitutional Council had recommended Ansari for the Muslim Commission chairman’s position, it was known that he had submitted fake citizenship certificate to lay claim to the post.

The District Administration Office of Kathmandu stated that Ansari’s original citizenship certificate mentioned his date of birth as 10 October 1980, whereas the one that he has presented mentioned his d.o.b as 10 October 1973. His high school academic certificates are also questionable, as he obtained them from India and took around 14 years to attest them from authorities here.

When these revelations were made, it was also known that Ansari was a central committee member of the ruling Nepal Communist Party (NCP) and had filed his candidacy in the last election via proportional representation system. The Election Commission has confirmed this. This made him ineligible for the post because political party members are barred from constitutional bodies.

Today, the Parliamentary Hearing Committee directed its secretariat to communicate with the District Administration Office of Kathmandu and get citizenship details of Ansari and his parents by tomorrow to conduct further investigation.

NCP lawmaker Yogesh Bhattarai, a committee member, today asked Ansari to withdraw his candidacy as the documents he had submitted were questionable. “This could damage your career in the long run,” Bhattarai told Ansari.

But Ansari refused to withdraw his candidacy.

“Some people have hatched a ploy to malign me. The documents that I have submitted are not fake and investigations can be conducted, if necessary. If I am found guilty, I’m ready to bear the consequences,” Ansari told the committee.

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