Lumbini Province Assembly passes 67 bills in four years

BUTWAL, Feb 1: The Lumbini Province Assembly has passed 67 bills in four years of its establishment. A total of 74 bills were registered at the Assembly, according to the Province Assembly Secretariat.

Similarly, among the bills registered at the Assembly, two are under consideration in the thematic committees and one in the secretariat. One bill was sent back by the Assembly and three others by the thematic committees. 

The Province Assembly has not got regular business due to influence of the tussle in the national politics and continuous obstruction of parliament after the formation of coalition government. It resulted in the lack of political consensus and registration of new bills in the Assembly. The Province Assembly has not met since the ninth session.

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After the formation of the coalition government, only two bills including one on the implementation of the financial proposal of the provincial government was passed by the Lumbini Province Assembly.

So, most of the bills were registered and certified during the tenure of Chief Minister Shankar Pokhrel. "Now, the major opposition has been continuously obstructing the Assembly meeting. But, the Province Assembly meeting is held with Rastriya Janamorcha lawmakers in opposition," said secretary at Lumbini Province Assembly, Durlav Kumar Punmagar.

He argued that it was wrong to say that bills were not introduced due to obstruction in the Assembly meeting. The Assembly is functioning, he added. There are 37 lawmakers of CPN UML, 19 each of Nepali Congress, and CPN (Maoist Center), four of Janata Samajwadi Party, one each of CPN (Unified Socialist), and Rastriya Janamorcha and one independent lawmaker in the assembly.

Information Officer at Lumbini Province Assembly secretariat, Dinesh Adhikari said only two bills were passed lately and the political imbalance in national politics had a direct bearing on the Province Assembly. The Province Assembly is marking its establishment day on February 4 by organizing various programs.