Kathmandu, February 17

Hearing of the chairs of five constitutional commissions will be held without the presence of the main opposition Nepal Congress’ lawmakers.

The NC members of the committee today boycotted the meeting of the Parliamentary Hearing Committee.

NC Whip and member of PHC Pushpa Bhusal told THT that his party’s members would not be a part of the hearing of chairpersons of five constitutional commissions. However, talking to THT, Chairperson of PHC Laxman Lal Karna said the hearing would take place even if NC lawmakers did not participate. He said he would follow the rules and regulations of the committee.

Bhusal said they were totally against a meeting of the Constitutional Council on January 20, which had recommended chairpersons of the National Natural Resources and Fiscal Commission, Inclusive Commission, Madhesi Commission, Tharu Commission and Muslim Commission.

The NC, on February 3, had boycotted the meeting after handing over a note of dissent to Chairperson Karna saying the Constitution Council’s decision to nominate five chairpersons was ‘unconstitutional’ and ‘illegal’.  As per constitutional provisions, the council should first seek to take a unanimous decision. If a unanimous decision was not possible, it should convene another meeting and make efforts for consensus. Only if consensus failed, the third meeting would take a decision on the basis of majority.

Bhusal said the council meeting didn’t follow the constitutional provision. She said her party President Sher Bahadur Deuba was not presented in the meeting when the chairpersons were nominated. “Our party president was not called for the meeting. So, it was against the law. We are not going to take a part in these hearings,” she said.

Including Bhusal, there are three NC lawmakers — Gynendra Bahadur Karki and Bhimsen Das Pradhan — in the PHC. Bhusal said only after the CC meeting was conducted according to the law would the NC participate in the hearing process.

PHC Chairperson Karna said he and his secretariat had been calling the NC to participate in the hearing process. “But Congress didn’t reply.” Karna, however, said the PHC role was to hold a hearing of those people who were nominated by the CC. “We couldn’t question the nominations of the CC. But after the hearing, the PHC can approve or disapprove the person,” he said, adding, so, we will hold the hearing without the NC because the meeting can be held with 51 per cent of committee members.

The PHC today held meeting without NC members and finalised the hearing of two chairpersons of the commissions. On Tuesday, the panel will hold hearing of former government secretary Balananda Paudel as chairman of National Natural Resources and Fiscal Commission and former finance secretary Shanta Raj Subedi as chairperson of Inclusive Commission. Paudel had also served as chief of the erstwhile Local Level Restructuring Commission.

Moreover, on Tuesday, the PHC will also hold meeting with those persons who registered four complaints against the Samim Ansari, a nominated chief of the Muslim Commission. The PHC is yet to announce hearing of Vijay Kumar Dutta, a nominated chairman of Madhesi Commission and Bishnu Kumar Chaudhary, a nominated chief of Tharu Commission.

Ansari is the only person against whom complaint has been filed among the five nominees of the constitutional commissions.