The House meeting on Tuesday was adjourned when CPN-UML lawmaker Ramnath Dhakal demanded that the speaker instruct the officials to count the number, saying the number of lawmakers present was short of quorum required to endorse any bill or motion.[break]
No sooner the Environment Minister Hemraj Tated tabled the motion to endorse the SAARC Convention on Cooperation on Environment Dhakal stood from his seat and demanded a count of the lawmakers.
Only 132 lawmakers were present at the meeting whereas the presence of at least 149 members is required for the passage of any proposal or bill in the House. As per the parliament regulations, the presence of one fourth of the total number of lawmakers is required to fulfill the quorum. In the 601-seat parliament, membership of 596 lawmakers is effective.
Though 132 members were present while the bill was tabled, altogether 316 lawmakers were found to have attended the meeting.
“The attendance register shows attendance of 316 lawmakers but we found only 132 in the counting. So the others must have left early,” Dhan Bahadur Shrestha, joint secretary at the parliament secretariat, told Republica.
Generally, lawmakers from the ruling bench are expected to be present to endorse government bills and proposals. But the presence of lawmakers from the ruling Maoist and Madhesi parties at the meeting was very low as compared to the opposition bench.
The adjournment of Tuesday´s meeting is not a case in isolation. Officials at the parliament secretariat expressed worries as sudden adjournment of the meeting for lack of required quorum has become a regular phenomenon.
Speaker terms it sad
Frustrated speaker held the ruling bench more responsible for adjournment of the parliament meetings.
“This is very serious and sad that we have failed to advance the bills despite my repeated rulings at previous meetings and call for government´s attention toward the situation,” Nembang told Republica. “I expect that the ruling side will take the situation seriously in the days to come.”
Failing to endorse bills, Speaker Nembang at a recent parliament meeting issued a strongly-worded ruling terming such a situation “very sad” and had particularly drawn the attention of the government and the ruling parties.
On Tuesday, besides Tated, State Minister for Science and Technology, Kalpana Dhamala, was scheduled to table a motion to endorse the Regional Cooperative Agreement for Research, Development and Training Related to Nuclear Science and Technology.
Also, Minister for Education Dinanath Sharma was scheduled to table a bill on higher education, a bill on Nepalgunj University, and another bill on Rajarshijanak University.
Similarly, Minister for Law and Justice Brijesh Kumar Gupta was scheduled to table a bill on mutual legal assistance and another bill on extradition at the same meeting.
With the sudden adjournment of the meeting, all the businesses have been deferred for January 17.
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