Miscellaneous
Opposition lawmakers top absentee list in HoR
Lawmakers from opposition parties were found to have skipped more meetings in the budget session of the House of Representatives (HoR) as compared to those from the ruling parties.Lawmakers from opposition parties were found to have skipped more meetings in the budget session of the House of Representatives (HoR) as compared to those from the ruling parties. As many as 14 lawmakers of the Nepali Congress remained absent from HoR meetings on more than 10 occasions, while eight lawmakers from the ruling Nepal Communist Party skipped more than 10 meetings.
A total of 31 lawmakers, including some influential leaders of the major parties, were absent from the HoR meetings on more than 10 occasions. The budget session of the federal parliament prorogued on Thursday.
Nepali Congress President Sher Bahadur Deuba and NCP C0-chairman Pushpa Kamal Dahal were among the top leaders skipping the Parliament meetings. Deuba skipped 32 out of the total 79 meetings, while Dahal was absent in 21 meetings.
Surya Narayan Yadav, lawmaker of SSF-N topped the list as he was absent on 39 occasions—almost half of the total 79 meetings. Other notable absentees included Abhishek Pratap Sah of the NC (26 meetings), Satya Pahadi of the NCP (24), Kishor Singh Rathore of the NC and Ram Babu Yadav of the SSF-N (19 each); Jip Chhiring Lama, Umesh Shrestha, Binod Chaudhary and Sitadevi Yadav—all of the NC (18 each); Sarita Giri of the SSF-N and Shiva Kumar Mandal of the NCP (15 each); Aman Lal Modi of the NCP (12); Sharad Singh Bhandari of the RJP-N (11); Sashanka Koirala of the NC (10); Anil Kumar Jha of the RJP-N and Surenda Kumar Karki of the NCP (10 each).
Speaker Krishna Bahadur Mahara informed the lawmakers about the absentees in the last meeting of the budget session of the federal parliament on Thursday. A provision under Article 89(d) of the constitution states that the seat of a member of the federal parliament shall become vacant if he or she remains absent from ten consecutive meetings without giving prior notice to the House concerned.
Secretary of the HoR Gopal Nath Yogi said the Speaker can consider the cases where lawmakers remain absent for up to nine meetings, but it requires approval from the HoR if it anyone remains absent for 10 meetings or more.
Criticising the lawmakers for staying away from Parliament meetings, civil society leaders have urged the media and civil society to expose them. “It’s unfortunate that many lawmakers, including top leaders of major parties, have remained absent in many meetings. I would like to urge the media and civil society to expose them in order to make them accountable to the people,” said Charan Prasai, a civil society leader, adding that the lawmakers should refrain from such activities in the next session of Parliament.
Last year when the budget session of the Legislature-Parliament was prorogued on May 18, as many as 117 lawmakers including several top leaders had skipped 10 or more meetings. The then speaker Onasari Gharti had presented the report showed the majority of the absentees were from the NC.