Amid a face-0ff between the President and the government over the amendment bill on the Citizenship Act, the CPN-UML chairperson KP Sharma Oli has blamed the ruling parties for rushing the bill through the lower house without proper deliberations.

Presenting a political paper at the party’s Central Committee meeting on Friday, Oli expressed his displeasure that the House of Representatives endorsed the bill without any revision ignoring the request of President Bidya Devi Bhandari to review the bill.

“The bill has been endorsed in the name of majority without even holding consultations (with the opposition) on very sensitive issues raised by the head of the state,” states Oli’s report. “This is an undemocratic, unparliamentary step that only escalates tensions with the opposition.”

Oli has listed seven points that the bill needs to address arguing that it is not enough to implement the constitutional provisions on citizenship. The paper proposes for a cooling-off period before providing citizenship to the foreign women married to Nepali men and incorporating the recommendations from the State Affairs and Good Governance Committee of the lower house.

Oli has objected to the endorsement of the bill by the lower house, which has already forwarded it to the National Assembly.

As Ganesh Timilsina, chairperson of the National Assembly is a confidant to Oli, there is a fear among a section in the ruling parties that he can derail the endorsement of the bill.

On August 14, Bhandari returned the bill to the lower house for revision attaching her 15-point concerns and suggestions. The lower house, however, endorsed it on August 18 without any revision and forwarded it to the National Assembly.

Bhandari, meanwhile, has consulted legal experts, civil society members and sitting and retired Nepal Army officers, much to the chagrin of the government and ruling parties.

The government and the five parties in the ruling alliance have expressed strong reservations over Bhandari’s consultations, calling them “activism.”

Some of the ruling party leaders view her move as an attempt to create pressure on the National Assembly to consider her concerns.

Anita Devkota, Nepali Congress whip in the upper house, said the bill was supposed to be presented on Monday but that didn’t happen because the House concentrated on the condolence motion after the demise of Nepali Congress member of the lower house Pradip Giri.

The upper house then was adjourned until Sunday because the Parliamentary Committee on the Study and Monitoring of the Implementation of Federalism was travelling to Province 1 and Madhes Province as per a pre-determined schedule.

“The bill should be presented on Sunday,” she told the Post. “I believe it gets endorsed on the same day or the next day.”

Organising a press meet on Thursday, Minister for Home Affairs Bal Krishna Khand also made a similar claim. He said the bill will be presented in the upper house on Sunday which will be endorsed after deliberations.

Speaking to the Post briefly, Timilsina, the chairperson of the upper house, said the bill will be registered on Sunday but he stopped short of offering details on how long it might take to endorse it.

“The bill will be presented in the upcoming meeting,” he told the Post. “The further course will be determined after holding consultations.”

Three Congress lawmakers from the upper house told the Post that Timilsina wants the bill to be discussed in the parliamentary Legislation Committee at least for a few days.

“We want the bill to be discussed in the full House without sending it to the committee,” one of the lawmakers told the Post. “As the lawmakers are not allowed to register the amendments to the bill, there is no point sending it to the House committee. This is only a time-buying strategy from the chairperson.”

They, however, say even if it is sent to the Legislation Committee, the bill cannot be put on hold for long. For lack of an elected chairperson, the committee is being led by Congress lawmaker Narayan Datta Mishra, as he is the eldest member.

“If the bill is sent to the Legislative Committee, we can ask the chairperson to send it back after holding deliberations for a couple of days. The ruling parties hold a majority in the committee,” said another Congress member in the upper house. “I don’t think the chairperson can hold it for long. The bill will be endorsed maximum in a week or so even if he tries to delay the process.”

The Congress lawmakers say as the ruling parties can ensure a two-thirds majority, which is enough to unseat Timilsina, he won’t dare to obstruct its endorsement for long.

The UML has 16 members in the 59-strong upper house while the ruling parties have 37 members.

Two among three nominated by the President too are close to the ruling parties.

Similarly, Bamdev Gautam and Loktantrik Samajbadi Party too are with the ruling alliance. If all come together, the strength of ruling parties will be more than two-thirds.

“We have urged for the Business Advisory Committee meeting for Sunday morning,” said Devkota. “How the endorsement process moves ahead will be determined by the meeting.”