“The only way the assembly can work effectively is if the government creates a favourable environment to do so. Even if the government does bring new bills, for it to become a law, we need the House of Representatives,” said Timilsina.
The next meeting of the National Assembly is due to take place on January 7.
National Assembly member Thagendra Prakash Puri said that members within the assembly were not in the ‘mood’ to facilitate the meeting.
“We could have put our views forward had the meeting taken place more swiftly. But, looks like no one is interested,” said Puri.
However, with the Prime Minister dissolving the House of Representatives, the chair feels that resuming the session currently will be ineffective. That said, many members are questioning if the Parliament’s job is just to make laws.
“We have asked the chair not to host fewer meetings and a short session. But, we do not know if that will be the case,” said assembly member Prakash Panta.
At a time when the House of Representatives was inactive, Panta said that the National Assembly should work harder on its behalf and alert the government on various issues and monitor it.
“Most of us have views which we have not been able to share. We waited six months to speak but they want to host just one meeting a week. If we work like this, it will not be effective as we have a lot of issues apart from bills to talk about,” said Panta.
However, political analysts say that the session began out of compulsion. The constitution does not give anyone the right to dissolve the National Assembly, as it is a permanent body of the parliament. They say that the session was resumed because according to the constitution, the assembly cannot remain inactive for more than six months.
Even Prime Minister KP Sharma Oli wants the session to end quickly, say sources. They say that PM Oli does not want the work of the government to be discussed at the assembly.
The last session on the National Assembly ended on July 2, 2020.
Onlinekhabar
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