President Bidya Devi Bhandari on Thursday prorogued the monsoon (budget) session of the Legislature-Parliament.
The House session that commenced on May 3 last year came to an end on Thursday midnight after 381 days, becoming the longest session ever in the country. The new session will start on Monday.
Speaker Onasari Gharti informed the House about President Bhandari’s order, as per the government’s recommendation, to prorogue the session. A Cabinet meeting on Thursday morning decided to end the Parliament session and recommend President Bhandari accordingly. Speaker Gharti informed lawmakers that Parliament functioned for 114 days and held 135 meetings during the budget session.
The House was prorogued on Thursday without discussing a revised constitution amendment bill which has been introduced to address the agitating Madhes-based parties’ demand.
It was an eventful session as it saw two impeachment motions—one against anti-graft agency chief Lokman Singh Karki and another against Chief Justice Sushila Karki. Lokman was later disqualified by the Supreme Court. An impeachment motion against Chief Justice Karki, however, was stayed by the Supreme Court. During this session, there was a face-off between the legislature and the judiciary courtesy the executive. CPN (Maoist Centre) Chairman Pushpa Kamal Dahal was elected the prime minister during the last House session.
The House also saw obstructions and boycotts over constitution amendment. The main opposition CPN-UML obstructed House meetings for days following the registration of a constitution amendment bill at the Parliament Secretariat on November 29. The House also endorsed around 30 laws required for the implementation of the constitution.
House that! 117 lawmakers skip 10 meetings or more
Over 100 lawmakers, including some influential leaders of major parties, were absent for 10 or more meetings of the Legislature-Parliament whose monsoon (budget) session was prorogued on Thursday after 381 days. A report made public by Speaker Onasari Gharti shows 117 lawmakers were absent for 10 or more meetings due to various reasons, including poor health, health check-ups, districts visits or foreign trips. Clause 220 (4) of the Parliament Regulation makes it mandatory for lawmakers to report to the House if they remain absent in more than 10 House meetings continuously. Among the top leaders skipping the Parliament meetings, majority of them are from the NC, the largest party. Some leaders could not attend the House meetings due to health reasons, like in the cases of Nepali Congress lawmakers Narahari Acharya and Shashank Koirala who were absent in 87 and 30 meetings respectively. Most of the lawmakers skipped the meetings because they were on district visits or foreign trips or were busy in party works.
Binod Ghimire covers parliamentary affairs and human rights for The Kathmandu Post. Since joining the Post in 2010, he has reported primarily on social issues, focusing on education and transitional justice.
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