KATHMANDU, SEPTEMBER 9
Chair of the CPN (Maoist Centre) Pushpa Kamal Dahal today expressed his fear that President Bidhya Devi Bhandari might refuse assent to the citizenship bill again.
The president had returned the citizenship bill to the House of Representatives on August 14 urging the Parliament to reconsider the bill but both houses of the Parliament -- the House of Representatives and the National Assembly -- passed the bill without any changes.
Talking to mediapersons in Pokhara today, Dahal said the president should give her assent to the bill sent to her after being passed by both the houses of the Parliament.
"I expect her to give assent to the bill as it has been passed by the Parliament second time, but I have my doubts that she might refuse again," Dahal said, adding that when he recently met her, the head of state was in a mood to make it a 'big political issue.' "When the bill was first sent to the president, she was expected to give it her assent as it was passed by both houses, but she decided to return it to the HoR as the constitution gives her right to do so once," Dahal said.
He said the president did not have the power to refuse assent to the bill the second time. "We hope that the president gives assent to the bill," he added.
"But if she refuses again, we'll go to the court or she might have to resign."
Dahal said his party was sticking to its previous stance vis-à-vis matrimonial naturalisation. He said the ruling alliance decided not to change anything about matrimonial naturalisation as there was no agreement on the issue.
He said his party agreed to table the bill mainly to address concerns of six-seven lakh children of citizens by birth who, despite being eligible citizens, had not been able to obtain citizenship in the absence of a new federal citizenship law.
Dahal said the bill contained almost the same provisions contained in the citizenship bill brought by the KP Sharma Oli government four years ago and the citizenship ordinance issued by the Oli government last year. He said the president had endorsed the citizenship ordinance without much thought.
President's information and communication expert Tika Prasad Dhakal told THT that the president had more than a week to take a call on the bill and commenting on the president's role at this stage was not prudent. "The president will act in consonance with the constitution," Dhakal said.
When asked about the president's consultations with parties about the bill, Dhakal said Article 81 of the constitution empowered the president to know about the bills the government registered in the Parliament. He said the president had the right to consult stakeholders to know whether or not national consensus was required on important issues like citizenship and what were the issues where the government could or could not forge consensus.
A version of this article appears in the print on September 10, 2022 of The Himalayan Times.
