Committee tables two reports in CA meeting

Kathmandu, June 24. Deliberations on the report of the CA Committee on Archives Study and Determination on structure of legislative body continues at the meeting of the Constituent Assembly on Tuesday.

Taking part in the discussion on the report based on the preliminary draft of the then CA Committee on Determination of the Structure of the Legislative body, Arjun Narsingh KC of Nepali Congress said the lower house should not have more than 241 members while the upper house should be representative in proportion to the ethnic population and geography of the Nepali society.

He also suggested not exceeding 25 members in the provincial parliament.Likewise, CPN-UML’s Bhim Bahadur Rawal said the House of Representatives should have 151 members and the National Assembly 60 members with representation based on population and geography.

He suggested reforming the current proportional representation election system. UCPN (Maoist)’s Agni Prasad Sapkota said as people are the source of power, the structure of legislative body should be determined with a focus on the people, change and progression.

The balance of power, forms of governance and state restructuring are other issues need to be considered as well, he added.

Dilnath Giri of RPP Nepal suggested having a powerful parliament like the US senate including a 207-member House of Representatives and 60-member National Assembly.

CPN-ML General Secretary Chandra Prakash Mainali said the provinces should have unicameral legislature with not more than 35 members, having 33 per cent women’s representation.

Gopal Dahit of Tharuhat Party Nepal suggested a bicameral legislature and drafting of the constitution with a focus on the ethnic and regional diversity of the country.

Also taking part in the discussion were CA members Ram Kumar Rai, Haricharan Shah, Ramayodhya Prasad Yadav, Guru Prasad Burlakoti, Romi Gauchan, Tul Bahadur Gurung, Goma Kunwar, Arzu Deuba, Anuradha Thapamagar and Laxmi Chaudhary. RSS