National
Govt to put off voting on Constitution amendment bill for want of majority
The government has decided to put off voting on the constitution amendment bill after failing to ensure its passage with the required two-thirds majority.The government has decided to put off voting on the constitution amendment bill after failing to ensure its passage with the required two-thirds majority.
According to a source at Baluwatar, the government has reached a conclusion to not put the amendment bill for voting after the Rastriya Prajatantra Party (RPP) hinted not to support the ruling parties’ move to get the amendment endorsed.
As the prospects of passing the amendment bill looked bleak, Prime Minister Sher Bahadur Deuba started homework to expand his Cabinet.
A joint taskforce of ruling Nepali Congress and CPN (Maoist Centre) has been assigned to allocate the ministries for Cabinet expansion.
Bimalendra Nidhi and Ramesh Lekhak from the NC and Deputy Prime Minister and Minister for Foreign Affairs Krishna Bahadur Mahara and Barsaman Pun from the Maoist Centre are in the taskforce.
Earlier, Prime Minister Sher Bahadur Deuba and Maoist Centre Chairman Pushpa Kamal Dahal had reached an agreement to expand the Cabinet after the amendment of the constitution.
Following a meeting of ruling parties and main opposition CPN-UML held in Baluwatar on Tuesday morning, the government decided not to put the amendment bill for voting for now and decided to strive for expanding the Cabinet.
NC leader Nidhi informed that the Cabinet would be expanded at the earliest.
“Efforts are underway to muster a two-thirds majority for the amendment of constitution,” he said, adding, “After we saw slim chances of garnering the required strength to endorse the amendment bill, we have decided to put on hold the amendment process for now.”
After the Parliamentary Party meeting of Rastriya Janata Party (RPP) held on Sunday failed to take decision to support the constitution amendment proposal, the government had reached a conclusion that it would be difficult to muster a two-thirds majority without the help of opposition party.