The House of Representatives has issued week-long deadline to the respective parliamentary committees to finalise the bills related to fundamental rights, amid fears that the laws will not be readied within the constitutional deadline.

The Constitution of Nepal makes it mandatory to have 17 laws related to fundamental rights within three years since its promulgation. However, with hardly 12 days left for the deadline not a single law has been endorsed by the federal parliament. The laws have to be endorsed by both the Houses and get authenticated by President Bidya Devi Bhandari by August 18.

Talking to reporters on Thursday, Speaker Krishna Bahadur Mahara said that all the laws have been sent to respective House committees which have seven days to complete deliberations and forward to the HoR for endorsement. “We have asked all the thematic committees of the House to submit the final laws by August 13,” he told the press meet. “We will have a few days to have deliberations over the bills in the House as well.”

Mahara added that as the top leaders of the major parties have agreed to expedite the finalisation process, he was confident that all the laws related to fundamental rights will be readied within the constitutional deadline.

Mahara had separate meetings with Prime Minister and Communist Party Co-chair KP Sharma Oli, Co-chair Pushpa Kamal Dahal and Nepali Congress President Sher Bahadur Deuba seeking their support in expediting the endorsement process.

“There are always rooms for amendments in the future if required,” he said.

Mahara also claimed that his six-day long foreign will not affect the finalisation process because he has no role in the House committee. He is embarking on a visit to China to participate in Fourth China Tibet Tourism and Culture Forum leading a 10-member delegation. Mahara has been criticised for leaving the country postponing the House for a week while the country has an important task to draft the crucial laws.

There could be hardly five House meetings after he returns from the junket.