Citizenship Bill endorsed by parliament is not in the interest of Nepali citizens: Gyawali

KATHMANDU, July 23: Deputy General Secretary of CPN-UML Pradeep Kumar Gyawali has said that the Citizenship Bill endorsed by parliament on Friday is not in the interest of Nepali citizens.

In a press conference organized by Press Chautari Nepal Rupandehi in Butwal today, Gyawali said that the bill introduced by the government is flawed even as there is consensus among all parties that all Nepali citizens should get citizenship certificates without any pretext.

Stating that CPN-UML had proposed to grant naturalized citizenship to foreign women who marry a Nepali nationals only after seven years, leader Gyawali said that the Bill paves the way for such women to initiate the process to get citizenship certificate right after their marriage.

Gyawali said that some requirements can be set in case of naturalized citizenship, but they can be arranged in such a way that people are not prevented from doing any kind of businesses or taking up employment.