President has 15 days to give her assent to the bill

The KP Sharma Oli government had the option of bringing the citizenship ordinance on the basis of the report prepared by the State Affairs and Good Governance Committee, but it did not base the ordinance on that report

KATHMANDU, SEPTEMBER 2

The National Assembly today passed the citizenship bill returned by President Bidhya Devi Bhandari for reconsideration without any changes, paving the way for enactment of the bill desperately awaited by children of citizens by birth and single mothers who had not been able to obtain citizenship in the absence of new federal citizenship law.

On August 18, the House of Representatives had passed the bill as it is. Now the president will have to give her assent to the bill within 15 days.

In accordance with Article 113 (4), the Parliament has the power to pass a bill returned by the president for review with or without any changes and the president is bound to give her assent to such a bill within 15 days.

Responding to lawmakers' remarks, Home Minister Bal Krishna Khand said the bill contained the same provisions that were there in the citizenship bill brought by the then KP Sharma Oli government four years ago and the citizenship ordinance issued by the Oli government last year.

On the question of matrimonial naturalisation, the minister said the current provision whereby foreign women marrying Nepali citizens could obtain matrimonial naturalisation after renouncing citizenship of their home countries had been implemented for the past 70 years. He said provisions related to matrimonial naturalisation were incorporated into the Citizenship Act-2006 and later into the Interim Constitution of Nepal-2007 as a result of a broader political consensus and the government wanted to forge similar broader consensus on the bill before changing the current provision.

He said delay in the enactment of citizenship bill due to differing views on matrimonial naturalisation could lead to further deprivation of eligible citizens, including children of citizens by birth and single mothers who were facing statelessness.

Khand said the KP Sharma Oli government had the option of bringing the citizenship ordinance on the basis of the report prepared by the State Affairs and Good Governance Committee, but the government did not base the ordinance on that report. The House panel had proposed seven-year waiting period for matrimonial naturalisation.

The minister said children of citizens by birth were unable to open bank accounts, start businesses, buy SIM cards, or apply for jobs since they lacked citizenship certificate.

Khand said concerns expressed by the president would be the Parliament's property and could become reference material in the days ahead. He said the president's concern about mother's affidavit in cases where applicant's father could not be traced and provincial identity in the citizenship card could be addressed through new citizenship regulations.

The minister said the affidavit provision proposed in the bill was better than seeking a public inquiry or similar report that could undermine the prestige of single mothers.

He said citizenship certificates to be issued to children of Nepali mothers whose fathers could not be traced would leave the father's column blank.

The ruling parties' lawmakers supported the bill, whereas CPN-UML lawmakers demanded that there should be a waiting period for foreign women marrying Nepali citizens to obtain matrimonial naturalisation.

Senior leader Bamdev Gautam said there should be no waiting period for foreign women marrying Nepali citizens to obtain matrimonial naturalisation. He said cross-border marital relations were cemented by historical linkages and similar culture that existed between Nepal and the other side of the border even before the formation of Indian state. He, however, said that passing the bill as it is would undermine the prestige of the president. He said some of the concerns expressed by the president were worth considering and the Legislation Management Committee should have consulted other NA members on those issues.

CPN (Unified Socialist) lawmaker Beduram Bhusal said since the president had constitutional power to send the bill to the House of origin for review, the Parliament also had the power to pass the bill as it is or with amendment and the Parliament's decision to pass the bill as it is should not be construed as an insult to the president.

UML lawmaker Khimlal Bhattarai said there should be at least seven-year waiting period for foreign women marrying Nepali citizens to obtain matrimonial naturalisation as such provision was there in the Indian citizenship law which applied to Nepali women marrying Indian men.

UML lawmaker Bhagwati Neupane said errors were committed in the past in citizenship laws, particularly on the issue of matrimonial naturalisation, but that did not mean that the same provision should continue.

A version of this article appears in the print on September 3, 2022 of The Himalayan Times.