Lawmakers from UCPN (Maoist) and CPN-UML, among other parties, have formally proposed some amendments to the provisions relating to holding election for prime ministerial post in parliament. [break]
Their move came a day after Nepali Congress (NC) registered a letter at Parliament Secretariat demanding that the lone candidate in the race, Ram Chandra Paudel of the NC, be declared elected unopposed for the post.
Despite their claims and counterclaims, leaders said their moves in parliament will not hinder the top leaders´ efforts toward consensus. "We have just floated these options in parliament but there will be no problem if the top leaders come up with consensus," said Acharya.
Chief whips of UCPN (Maoist), UML and MPRF -- Post Bahadur Bogati, Bhim Acharya and Chandrika Prasad Yadav, respectively -- submitted the amendment proposal to Speaker Subas Nembang at his office Tuesday. Leaders from CPN (ML-Socialist), Rastriya Janamukti Party, Nepali Janata Dal, Nepal Sadbhabana Party (Anandidevi) and Nepaa Rastriya Party have supported the amendment proposal.
They have said the existing clause of the Parliamentary Regulations that requires repetition of the voting process for infinite number of times until a candidate is elected to the post should be amended.
The parties have demanded that if none of the candidates in the race secures a majority in the House even after three rounds of voting the election process should be terminated and new process started. They have proposed that the election process should be started anew after the first round itself, if there is just one candidate in the race.
Likewise, they want to incorporate a provision allowing only two front runners to continue in the race after the first round of vote.
Registering a letter at the Parliament Secretariat, earlier on Monday, NC demanded that the lone candidate Paudel be elected unopposed for the post. The letter was registered at the secretariat as per the decision of a joint meeting of the party´s central committee and the parliament party.
While NC leaders have termed the proposal to amend the regulations illogical, other parties have said electing Paudel unopposed was simply impossible. Both the sides have claimed their options are in accordance with last week´s SC verdict.
"We opted to propose amendment to the regulations as the SC suggested to the parliament to end the repetition of futile voting while the NC chose to insist on Paudel´s unopposed election to the post," UML Chairman Jhalanath Khanal told Republica.
UML Chief Whip Acharya said they decided to submit the proposal to the speaker with a view to raise the issue at the Business Advisory Committee (BAC) meeting to be held within one or two days. "The speaker may float this issue for discussion at the BAC meeting or he may decide to form a panel to look into the matter," Acharya said.
NC Chief Whip Laxman Ghimire, however, said there is no point in registering amendment proposal as the SC verdict has clearly stated that there is no problem in the regulations itself. "The SC has said the problem lies in the application of the regulations," Ghimire said.
Speaker Nembang said he has taken both the proposals just in his notice.
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