Longest House session prorogued after 381 days

Published On: May 19, 2017 07:51 AM NPT By: Republica  | @RepublicaNepal


KATHMANDU, May 18: The longest running  House session in Nepal’s parliamentary history came to an end  Thursday. The session  commenced on May 3, 2016 and ran for 381 days. 

In a House meeting on Thursday, Speaker Onsari Gharti read out a letter from the Office of the President.and  announced  prorogation of the ongoing session. According to  constitutional provisions, the president can commence and prorogue parliamentary sessions upon the recommendation of the government. The government is planning to commence the budget session from Monday, May 22,  said  Minister for Law and Justice Ajay Shankar Nayak.

Though there is a tradition of proroguing the budget session once the full budget for the fiscal year is endorsed, the ongoing session has continued even after endorsement of the budget for fiscal year 2016-17. 

The Oli government resigned after the then opposition parties registered a no-confidence motion in parliament. With the change of government, it took a few more months for the new government led by Pushpa Kamal Dahalto to get around to endorsing the full budget. 

Parliament endorsed the budget in September, but a move by ruling and opposition party lawmakers to register an impeachment motion against then chief  of the Commission for Investigation of Abuse of Authority (CIAA) Lokman Singh Karki led to  prolongation of the House session. 

The previous longest House session  started in 2011.  Beginning from May 2, 2011, it ended on February 21, 2012, thus lasting for a total of 295 days. In 2006 also, a House session  continued for nearly 10 months . Starting on April 28  that year, it lasted till January 15, 2007. 

Parliament has also witnessed some very brief sessions. The shortest session ran only from January 13 to January 15 in 1999. Parliament was dissolved just two days after the commencement of the session. Similarly, a special session summoned in May 2015 a few days after the massive earthquake ended within six days.


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