Valley
RPP stands against charter revision bill
The Rastriya Prajatantra Party has decided to vote against the constitution amendment bill registered in the Legislature-Parliament, making endorsement of the bill an uphill task for the government.The Rastriya Prajatantra Party has decided to vote against the constitution amendment bill registered in the Legislature-Parliament, making endorsement of the bill an uphill task for the government.
A three-day meeting of the party’s central working committee held in Hetauda concluded on Sunday, deciding to stand against the amendment bill.
The party that suffered a split recently said that joining the Pushpa Kamal Dahal-led government was a “huge” mistake.
Party Chairman Kamal Thapa charged the incumbent government led by Sher Bahadur Deuba with ignoring the issues of Madhes. The RPP chief also criticised the agitating Rastriya Janata Party-Nepal for accepting the elections by “postponing the problems of Madhes”.
The central committee meeting that started on Friday also accused the government and the ruling coalition of working behind the scene for splitting the RPP.
With CPN-UML, the second largest party in Parliament, standing against the amendment bill, the RPP’s decision to vote against the bill makes it impossible for the ruling coalition to secure a two-thirds majority in favour of the bill. Following the split, the RPP claims to have 20 lawmakers with it. In the 592-member House, 395 votes are required to pass the amendment bill.
Other reasons that the RPP listed out for its decision are the readiness of the agitating Madhes-based parties to take part in the elections irrespective of whether or not the bill is endorsed, “lack of seriousness” on the part of the ruling parties and the RJP-N about passing the bill and parliamentary disregard for the RPP proposal to revert Nepal to a Hindu state, the RPP stated.
House prepares for vote ‘today’
The Legislature-Parliament is preparing to put the second constitution amendment proposal to a vote on Monday.
Since deliberation on the bill did not complete on Sunday, the voting has been scheduled for Monday.
Spokesperson for the Parliament Secretariat Bharat Raj Gautam said the House is scheduled to “finalise the voting process” on Monday. Nepali Congress Chief Whip Chinkaji Shrestha also confirmed the voting plan.
Lawmakers from different parties have registered 50 amendments to the amendment bill registered by the government.
The agitating Rastriya Janata Party-Nepal, which has agreed to participate in the upcoming elections, has said it would make constitution amendment its main agenda for the vote.
RJP-Nepal General Secretary Keshav Jha said the parties voting against the proposal would be rejected by the Madhesi people in the elections.
Amendments to the proposal would be decided individually while the main proposal would be put to vote after dividing lawmakers into two groups, said Gautam.