Of the two government proposed options, the first was foreign women married to Nepali men should show proof they had renounced citizenship of the home country

Kathmandu, September 14

The main opposition Nepali Congress today proposed in the parliamentary State Affairs and Good Governance Committee that the existing provision of Nepal Citizenship Act-2006 that allows foreign women married to Nepali men to acquire naturalised citizenship immediately after marriage be retained.

This proposal forced the House of Representatives’ panel to postpone its meeting till tomorrow. The SAGGC was preparing to finalise the debate on the bill today through voting, but with the NC’s advocacy of retaining the existing provision, panel Chair Shashi Shrestha postponed the meeting till tomorrow.

NC Lawmakers Amresh Kumar Singh, Dilendra Prasad Badu, Mina Pandey, Devendra Raj Kandel and Dila Sangroula presented their joint written proposal to the panel chair demanding retention of the existing provision on marital naturalisation.

During the meeting, Samajwadi Party-Nepal Lawmaker Ram Sahay  Yadav and Rastriya Janata Party-Nepal lawmaker Rajkishor Yadav opposed both the proposals of the government.

One of the options laid by the government was to provide naturalised citizenship to foreign women immediately after marriage to Nepali men if they submitted evidence to prove they had renounced the citizenship of their home country

within six months.

Another option was to provide naturalised citizenship after seven years of marriage.

Amid dissatisfaction among lawmakers representing opposition parties, the ruling Nepal Communist Party (NCP) lawmakers Janardhan Sharma, Pampha Bhusal, Krishna Gopal Shrestha, and RJP-N lawmaker Yadav requested Chairman Shrestha to finalise the disputed provision of the bill only after consulting senior leaders of all the four major parties. In between, lawmakers also consulted senior leaders of their respective parties on phone and postponed the meeting till tomorrow.

During the meeting, RJP-N lawmaker Yadav said he had called Prime Minister KP Sharma Oli urging him to call an all-party meeting to discuss and finalise the issue on the basis of consensus. He added that the PM was positive about it. Shrestha said the bill should be passed as soon as possible.

Shrestha requested lawmakers of the NC, NCP, SP-N and RJP-N to consult their top leaders on the thorny issues

of the bill, particularly on marital naturalisation.

Lawmakers in the panel told the panel chair that they would consult their top leaders before attending the next meeting. Shrestha said although there were hot debates in the panel over the bill’s provisions, she was hopeful the bill would be finalised on the basis of consensus.