Failing to settle disputes over some of the provisions in the parliamentary regulations even after months of negotiations, the committee for drafting House procedures had decided to resolve matters through voting on Thursday.However, the voting couldn't be held on the scheduled day as main opposition party Nepali Congress (NC) sent a letter to Radheshyam Adhikari, chairman of the committee, informing him that NC members on the committee would remain absent that day as the NC was holding elections for its parliamentary party (PP) executive committee.
NC lawmakers filed their candidacies for the 22-member executive committee on Thursday and the voting will be held on Friday.
"Our friends who are contesting for the PP executive committee are now quite busy seeking votes from NC lawmakers. They will remain busy until the results are made public," NC Chief Whip Chinkaji Shrestha said at the meeting of the parliamentary regulations drafting committee, which was deferred until further notice after a brief sitting. "So, I request that this meeting be deferred for a few days."
Karna Bahadur Thapa and Rewati Raman Bhandari of CPN-UML and Shakti Basnet and Ram Narayan Bidari of UCPN (Maoist) proposed deferral of the meeting for a few days as holding a vote in the absence of lawmakers from the main opposition party would not be appropriate.
Adhikari then announced deferral of the voting until further notice.
However, officials said that with the postponement of Thursday's event, the voting is likely to be deferred for the next two weeks, as a group of lawmakers including committee chair Adhikari are scheduled to leave for a weeklong visit to Japan, starting Saturday.
"It may take around 10 days for the committee chair and some other members to resume work at the committee after their Japan visit," Babin Sharma, press advisor to Speaker Onsari Gharti, told Republica.
The appointment of the chief commissioner at the Election Commission and justices at the Supreme Court has been pending for long as the parliamentary hearings committee hasn't conducted their confirmation hearings. They need to be confirmed by the hearings committee before their formal appointment.
The Constitutional Council recommended Election Commissioner Ayodhi Prasad Yadav for the post of chief election commissioner in December and the Judicial Council recommended 11 senior judges for appointment as justices at the apex court over a month ago.
But they are yet to be appointed to their respective positions due to failure to confirm them through the parliamentary hearings committee.
Meanwhile, Chief Justice Kalyan Shrestha is retiring from the post on April 12.
Given the confusion at the parliamentary hearings committee, the SC is likely to be headed by an acting chief justice until the House committee finalizes its regulations and conducts hearings for the nominees.
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