The parliament meeting was postponed to avoid voting on the notice of opposition registered against the government bill for extension of Constituent Assembly (CA) term for one year. The CA term expires May 28. [break]
Maoist lawmakers Dev Prasad Gurung and Ek Raj Bhandari filed the notice Sunday evening at the Parliament Secretariat while the government was scheduled to table the bill for discussion at parliament meeting on Monday.
Top leaders of the three major political parties met on Monday morning and decided to suggest to Speaker Subash Nembang to postpone the meeting to Tuesday. Top leaders including Prime Minister Madhav Nepal and chiefs of three major political parties were present during the talks held at the Everest Hotel, New Baneshwar.
Following the suggestion, Nembang called a meeting of the Business Advisory Committee of parliament in the afternoon and put off the House meeting till Tuesday.
The Maoists registered the notice as a move to pile more pressure on the government. Any bill can be taken ahead only after defeating the notice of opposition by simple majority of parliament.
- To suspend a clause of parliament rule
- Leaders expedite parleys
"I decided to postpone today´s [Monday´s] meeting upon the request of the major political parties as they said that they want to resolve the CA term extension row through talks," Nembang told reporters. He said talks are moving ahead positively.
By avoiding vote on Maoist notice of opposition, the parties have succeeded at least in avoiding further bitterness among themselves. If the Maoist notice is passed, the government bill will be rejected then and there.
Similarly, there is less possibility of Maoists voting in favor of the bill if their notice of opposition is defeated in the parliament. Passage of constitution amendment bill requires two-thirds majority and it will not be possible without Maoist support.
"Postponement of the Monday meeting can be taken as a move to buy more time for consensus on the bill," said UML leader Ramnath Dhakal.
Parties agree to suspend parliament rule
The leaders agreed to suspend a clause of the parliament rules that says 72 hours should be given for parliamentarians to submit amendment to the bill, if any.
It became compulsory to suspend the clause as the parliament is left with insufficient time to follow the due process. "With the postponement of the Monday meeting it has become practically impossible to allow 72 hours for filing amendments to the bill," Nembang said. The bill must be passed by May 28 to give continuity to the CA.
The speaker got a nod from the BAC for suspending the clause. He will take a short cut to pass the bill from the parliament. There are precedents where bills have been passed by the parliament in one day.
Leaders intensify parleys
With the Maoist registering their notice of opposition against the bill, top leaders under pressure have intensified talks to forge consensus.
On Monday morning, Prime Minister Nepal, Maoist Chairman Pushpa Kamal Dahal, NC parliamentary party leader Ram Chandra Poudel and UML Chairman Jhala Nath Khanal, among other senior leaders, gathered at the hotel and agreed to postpone the parliament meeting.
They agreed to hold another round of meeting on Tuesday morning. Leaders claimed they were ready to continue talks but they had to postpone as the Maoist leaders had to attend their central committee meeting. Nembang said he is optimistic with the recent development. "We can take it as a positive gesture," he said.
thira@myrepublia.com
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