What Nepalese Newspapers Write

What Nepalese Newspapers Write

Siddhi B Ranjitkar

Kathmandu, June 20, 2016

Parliamentary Rules

On June 19, 2016, by the majority votes, the parliament has passed the ‘parliamentary rules’ that has been on hold for nine months because the political parties have been taking stand on the number of members to be on the ‘parliamentary hearing committee’ going beyond the Constitution.

For example, NC has been taking stand on the new parliamentary hearing committee following the new Constitution promulgated on September 20, 2015 should be 75 members as it has been in the past because other parliamentary committees have been working as they have been in the past in other words the number of members of the committees unchanged. This is what NC leaders wanted the ‘parliamentary hearing committee’ should have been even though the recently adopted Constitution has made the provision for the 15 members only.

Other political parties except for the NC have been saying that the Constitution has made the provision for the ‘parliamentary hearing committee’ to be of fifteen members not more; the new Constitution has not made any new provisions for other parliamentary committees. So, other committees could run as they have been in the past but the parliamentary hearing committee needs to have only 15 members and then the parliament needs to pass its composition.

Unfortunately, NC leaders that have been so proud of its democratic principles and values had taken nine months to understand that the new constitution has made the provision for the 15-member parliamentary committee, and pass the ‘parliamentary rules’ for passing the ‘parliamentary hearing committee’ on June 19, 2016.

After passing the new parliamentary rules, the parliament also declared the 15-member ‘parliamentary hearing committee’ comprising six members of the NC, four members of the CPN-UML, two members of the CPN-Maoist-Center, and one member each of the Madheshi People’s Rights Forum-Democratic and Rastriya Prajatantra Party-Nepal. Sharing in the number of the members of the parliamentary hearing committee has been done following the number of slots those parties have in the current parliament. One member is to be nominated.

In absence of the ‘parliamentary hearing committee’, hearing on the recommendation made on appointing the Chief Justice of the Supreme Court of Nepal could not be held. Consequently, the recommended Chief Justice Shusila Karki has been functioning as the Acting Chief Justice.

Similarly, the appointment of ambassadors to foreign countries has been on hold because the ‘parliamentary rules’ that needs to be used for formulating a new parliamentary hearing committee following the Constitution, has not be passed in the parliament until June 19, 2016. Only after the parliamentary hearing, the appointment of ambassadors and of the heads and members of other constitutional bodies can be done.

Concerning the appointment of ambassador, previously the government had consulted the Commission on Investigation into Abuse of Authority (CIAA) for even recommending the names of ambassadors for the parliamentary hearing but this time the government has comfortably skipped it because the political parties have decided to appoint the ambassadors following the quota every party receives following their political status.

So, the local newspapers write that names of the persons recommended for the ambassadors to the Nepalese diplomatic missions in foreign countries are visibly involved in irregularities in the State businesses. It has been the normal practice of the government in the past and evidently of the current government, too had been to recommend and eventually appoint the persons involved in the high level of irregularities in businesses because they could provide the concerned political party with a huge lump sum amount for getting the appointment to ambassadors.

The parliamentary hearing committee will sit on June 20, 2016 for hearing the recommendations made for appointment to the Chief Justice of the Supreme Court of Nepal, and the 21 ambassadors the government has recommended for appointment to the various Nepalese diplomatic missions in the foreign countries.

Fake Doctors

CIB (Central Investigation Bureau) arrested 36 medical doctors on the charges of using fake credentials to study the medical courses and have been practicing medicines, and presented them before the Court for extending five days for keeping them in custody for further investigation into their cases. The court approved it.

Most of the doctors that have been working as medical practitioners had used faked certificates of intermediate sciences from the Bihar Education Board for studying the courses of MBBS (Bachelor of Medicine and Bachelor of Surgery).

Speaking to the anchor of the ‘antar-sambad’ of the Radio Nepal on the morning of June 20, 2016, Minister for Health also the General Secretary of Madheshi People’s Right Forum-Democratic Ram Janam Chaudhary said that after he became the minister, he told the Nepal Medical Council that the local newspapers have had a number of news about the fake doctors working in different hospitals in Nepal, and asked the Nepal Medical Council to do some research and bring the fake doctors to justice.

Accordingly, the Nepal Medical Council did conduct the investigation into the doctors that had used the faked basic sciences certificates for studying MBBS and found about 2,000 doctors had used doubtful certificates for studying MBBS, said Health Minister Chaudhary. The investigation continues; some more practicing doctors might turned out to be fake ones.

Constitution-Enforcing Schedule

The government has submitted the schedule for enforcing the Constitution to the parliament for the information of the parliament and the parliamentarians, too on June 19, 2016. The prime minister and other ministers have been saying that the government would strictly enforce the schedule so that the elections to the National Assembly and the House of Representatives would be done in October/November/December 2017.

NC leaders have been saying that the NC takes the main responsibility for enforcing the Constitution, as the NC has been instrumental to the adoption of the new Constitution; without bringing the dissident Madheshi leaders to their satisfaction, the government could not enforce the Constitution and could not hold the elections, the NC leaders have been saying.

Concerning such a claim of the NC leaders, Minister for Health Ram Janam Chaudhary told the anchor of the ‘antar-sambad’ that it was nothing but the NC leaders was claiming the power. He said that the dissent has been not on the entire Constitution but only on certain Articles of the Constitution. He also said that the NC leaders could have contribute to not create such dissent if the NC leaders Krishna Prasad Sitaula had agreed the demarcation of the eastern State as the Madheshi leaders had wanted, and current Prime Minster KP Oli would have agreed on that but Sitaula did not; similarly, the demarcation of the far western State also could be done to the satisfaction of the Tharus, had current NC President Sher Bahadur Deuba agreed on the demarcation of the Western State as the Tharus wanted, and current Minster for Defense Bhim Rawal would have agreed on that, too but Deuba did not.

Clearly, the current dissent has been entirely the creation of the NC leaders that is what Minister Chaudhary has made clear. Not only that but also the then Chief of the Madheshi Front Upendra Yadav had traded all the rights of the Madheshi people wanted to have with NC and CPN-UML leaders for the office of the Vice-president at the time of the election of a candidate for the Vice-president Upendra Yadav had nominated after the elections to a Constituent Assembly in 2008.

Madheshi voters had severally punished Upendra Yadav and other leaders of the Madheshi Front voting them out of the office in the second elections to another Constituent Assembly in 2013. Now, the Madheshi leaders had been trying hard to regain their lost reputation through hard way rather than going back to the people and atoning for the past sin, and asking them to forgive.

While speaking to the anchor of the ‘antar-sambad’ on June 19, 2016, Chairman of Nepal Workers and Peasants’ Party Narayan Man Bijuckchhe has expressed his opinion of Madheshi leaders that they have been fighting not for the common Madheshi people and not even for themselves but for foreigners.

Surely, Madheshi leaders have been fighting for the foreigners that have been holding or would hold naturalized citizenships to have the rights to be in the positions of the president, vice-president and prime minister and so on the new Constitution has denied. Probably, some of the current dissident Madheshi leaders must be holding the naturalized Nepalese citizenships. Naturally, they would be deprived of such high positions.

June 20, 2016