MPRF warns house obstruction

KATHMANDU, Jan 1: The Madhesi People´s Rights Forum (MPRF) has warned of obstructing parliamentary proceedings to protest against the bill that the government has tabled for seventh amendment of the Interim Constitution of Nepal-2007. [break]



The bill, if passed, would allow the president and the vice president to take oath of office and secrecy in any of the mother tongues spoken in Nepal.



The government tabled the bill with the objective of resolving the issue of Paramananda Jha as his vice-presidency has been invalidated by the Supreme Court after he refused oath of office in Nepali. The government has since the Supreme Court verdict also withdrawn state facilities provided to Jha.



The MPRF has demanded that an index with a list of the mother tongues spoken in the country be enclosed with the amendment bill so as to ensure that Jha will be allowed to take oath in Hindi language. MPRF has termed the wordings used in the bill ambiguous.



“If this arrangement is to administer him the oath of office in Maithili instead of Hindi, our demand will not be addressed. Then, we will have to obstruct the House,” MPRF leader Abhishek Pratap Sah said in a parliament meeting on Thursday.



Meanwhile, the UCPN (Maoist) has objected to the government proposal to enforce the amendment bill with retroactive effect.



“We object strongly to the government plan to enforce it with retroactive effect as it is nothing but a strategy to prolong the tenure of the coalition government,” said Maoist Lawmaker Khim Lal Devkota.



Tarai-Madhes Democratic Party leader Hridayesh Tripathi, however, urged the parliamentarians to support the amendment bill.



Responding to lawmakers´ queries, Minister for Law and Justice Prem Bahadur Singh said the government tabled the bill with the objective of giving continuity to Jha´s vice presidency with due respect and to honor the Supreme Court´s verdict on the issue. “He [Jha] is free to choose any language as his mother tongue. This is not a decision to be taken by a party. I hope, whatever his decision be, that will help we all the Nepalis hold our head high,” Singh said.



Meanwhile, the parliament meeting endorsed the Agreement Establishing the Agency for International Trade Information and Cooperation (AITIC).

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