National
3 more weeks for local governance law to come into effect
As the vote count for the first phase of local level elections is almost over, the newly elected people’s representatives will have to wait for at least three weeks to get the laws to exercise all their powers.As the vote count for the first phase of local level elections is almost over, the newly elected people’s representatives will have to wait for at least three weeks to get the laws to exercise all their powers.
The Local Level Governance Act is mandatory for a full-fledged functioning of the federal units created in line with the provisions of the new constitution. Results from a majority of the 283 local bodies where the elections were held in the first phase have been out by Saturday.
The Ministry of Federal Affairs and Local Development on May 12 registered the bill on Local Governance Act in the Parliament Secretariat. However, it is yet to be tabled in the House. The session of Parliament was prorogued on Thursday as the meeting had no business. According to officials at the ministry, it is unlikely that the bill will be passed within May.
The next session of Parliament that commences on Monday is likely to dwell on the government’s plans and polices and the budget at least for the first 10 days. “We hope the new Act will be in place before the second-phase polls,” Dinesh Thapaliya, secretary at the ministry, told the Post. On June 14, voting will take place in four provinces to elect people’s representatives in 461 local federal units.
Thapaliya said the newly elected representatives will exercise the authority delegated by the Constitution of Nepal in Annex 8 before the new law comes into an effect. “There won’t be problems for a few weeks but the Act is mandatory for full-fledged works,” he clarified.
The ministry has also authorised the local governments to carry out around 370 listed tasks. The bill can be endorsed in four days if it is fast-tracked in consensus among the parties.
Unlike in the past, the new local level units enjoy executive, legislative and judicial powers. The draft bill has 103 clauses outlining the jurisdictions of the local bodies in addition to a sample of oath to be administered to the elected representatives. The government, however, has already cleared the legal hurdle for the oath.