KATHMANDU, Nov 7: The government’s recent move to remove personal secretaries assigned to lawmakers as part of its austerity measures has drawn dissatisfaction from office-bearers of the Federal Parliament and all seven provincial assemblies.
Under the revised provisions of the Remuneration and Facilities of Office-Bearers and Members of Federal Parliament Act, 2016, the personal secretary privilege for MPs has been scrapped. The facility has been retained only for the Speakers of the House of Representatives and provincial assemblies, and for the Chairperson of the National Assembly. With this change, personal secretaries for 875 lawmakers have been discontinued.
The Federal Parliament comprises 59 members in the National Assembly and 275 in the House of Representatives, totalling 334. Across the seven provinces, there are 550 provincial assembly members, putting the total number of MPs at 884.
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Despite the decision, Sudurpaschim Province has taken an all-party stance to continue providing personal secretaries to its provincial assembly members, though the legality of the move remains uncertain.
Office-bearers of the Federal Parliament have begun pressing the government to reverse the decision. On November 4, Speaker Devraj Ghimire, Deputy Speaker Indira Rana, National Assembly Chair Narayan Dahal, National Assembly Vice-Chair Bimala Ghimire, Federal Parliament Secretary-General Padam Prasad Pandey, and secretaries Harkaraj Rai and Rojnath Pandey met Prime Minister Sushila Karki at Baluwatar to express their concerns.
Describing the cuts as an attack on Parliament in the name of austerity, Speaker Ghimire said the move was “wrong and undermines the dignity of Parliament.” He also warned that the decision could set a negative precedent for future governments.
As the government has not reconsidered the decision, federal and provincial office-bearers convened a meeting on Friday at Singha Durbar to discuss next steps. The meeting is reviewing the government’s decision to remove support staff facilities provided to MPs and parliamentary office-bearers, which the government says is part of public administration reform.
