Kathmandu, December 18

President Bidhya Devi Bhandari today summoned the winter session of Parliament on December 26.

The government fixed the date for the beginning of the new session and sent it to the President’s Office for final approval.

Amid criticism that the government had not come up with the date for the new session of Parliament, the President’s Office called the meeting of the House of Representatives and National Assembly at 4:00pm on the given date.

According to the constitution, the president shall summon and prorogue a session of the Federal Parliament. The president may summon and prorogue the sessions of both or either of the Houses of the Federal Parliament.

According to Parliament Secretariat, both Houses were ready for the new session. Spokesperson of the Parliament Roj Nath Pandey said that the Parliament Secretariat was fully prepared to run both the Houses, but the timing (4:00pm) would be problem.

“The office time of the employees is 10:00am to 4:00pm. Parliament employees had already declared that they would not work before and after office time from December 16. They had decided to this effect after they didn’t receive extra pay for extra work for six months,” Pandey said.

Pandey further said that timing could be a problem in the new session. “Secretariat will try to resolve the problem as soon as possible,” he added.

After a long consultation between the Parliament Secretariat and the government, the government came with the final date.

Speaker of the House Krishna Bahadur Mahara has asked the government time and again that they should call the new session as soon as possible.

The government was criticised by Nepal Communist Party (NCP) leaders and the opposition Nepali Congress after it brought the Employee Adjustment Ordinance through the backdoor of the House.

The Ordinance was not discussed in the Houses. The government even sent a copy of the Federal Police Adjustment Ordinance to the Public Service Commission for consultation. Minister of Law, Justice and Parliamentary Affairs Bhanu Bhakta Dhakal said the ministry has prepared those laws that should be amended or come into existence according to the constitutional provision.

He said there were 339 existing laws and of them 175 laws should be amended or come as new laws. The ministry has prioritised drafting new laws and then amending old laws. Those laws should be enacted before midnight of March 5 next year.

The Parliament Secretariat has already said that if the government does not register the required bills, the houses will be without business.

Minister Dhakal said that they have consulted all the 22 ministries, including the Prime Minister’s Office on drafting new laws and amening existing laws within the given time.