KATHMANDU, Dec 29: President Bidya Devi Bhandari on Friday has authenticated the ordinance on the National Assembly Election.

The ordinance was forwarded by cabinet two months ago. But the document had been stuck at the President’s office due to differing positions of the ruling party Nepali Congress and the largest party CPN-UML on the modality of electing the upper House.

The President’s Chief Personal Secretary, Bhesh Raj Adhikari, said that the President today authenticated the ordinance which had been pending at the Office of the President for long due to the dispute among the political parties over it.

Although the President had wanted all the political parties to find consensus on the ordinance, she authenticated the ordinance with a view to ending the latest political deadlock, the President’s Chief Personal Secretary said.

Before this, the Head-of-the-State had held talks with the Prime Minister Sher Bahadur Deuba, CPN-UML) chairman KP Sharma Oli, CPN (Maoist Center) chairman Pushpa Kamal Dahal  and other leaders of the political parties to seeking advice on ending the political log jam.

KATHMANDU, Dec 19: The CPN (Maoist Center) leader Top Bahadur Rayamajhi has said that the ordinance on formation of national assembly should be finalized by forging a consensus.

KATHMANDU, Dec 18: Law, Justice and Parliamentary Affairs Minister Yagya Bahadur Thapa has said that Prime Minister Sher Bahadur Deuba will not hand over the government to the left alliance unless the National Assembly is elected.

Minister Thapa’s remarks comes a day after the left alliance, organizing a joint press meet, urged PM Deuba to clear way for the formation of a new government under its leadership.

The left alliance allies, CPN-UML and CPN (Maoist Center), have accused the Nepali Congress-led government of creating unnecessary hurdles instead of smoothly handing over the power to new government. The left alliance has also argued that the process for the formation of government and National Assembly are independent of each other; while Duba, arguing that electing National Assembly was essential for government formation, has maintained he would step down only after the election of upper house.

“The government was formed in order to conduct elections. We still have National Assembly election to conclude. Thus, we will transfer the power to new government only after electing National Assembly,” said Minister Thapa while speaking at a face-to-face interaction program organized by the Reporters’ Club Nepal on Monday.

“Deuba can’t leave the government even if he wants to. Neither Oli and Prachanda have right to ask Deuba to hand over power,” he added.

“The incumbent government will itself transfer power to the left alliance once the National Assembly is formed,” he furthered.

NC, who has adopted single transferable votes, has appealed President not to put the ordinance of National Assembly election on hold but the left alliance, who has taken stance on multiple transferable votes, has warned the Prime Minister not to entice President for unconstitutional steps.

“The President has no other option but to approve the ordinance on upper house election as it was sent to the President’s office two months ago,” said Minister Thapa.

“It is disappointing that it is still pending at the Office of President,” he added.

KATHMANDU, Dec 17: CPN-UML and CPN (Maoist Center) are organizing a joint press conference today to clear their stance on the row over the ordinance on National Assembly election and a new government formation.

The meeting will be organized at 3 pm today afternoon, which will be attended by the senior leader of both parties, said Oli’s press coordinator Chetan Adhikari.

The left alliance, which has secured majority in the recent House of Representatives election, securing 116 of 165 seats, taken stance on multiple transferable votes in the formation of National Assembly; and has urged the ruling Nepali Congress to clear path for the formation of new government.

Nepali Congress, however, has said that it would hand over the power only after the formation of National Assembly. NC has also adopted single transferable votes, which Oli argues is unconstitutional. Meanwhile, Prime Minister Sher Bahadur has urged the left alliance not to provoke President to return the ordinance on the National Assembly election forwarded by the government.

The ordinance is currently pending at the Office of President. President Bidya Devi Bhandari, on the other hand, has said that she would not approve the ordinance until the political parties find consensus first.

The left alliance leaders will also thank the voters for their immense support in polls during the meeting.

Prakash Silwal

KATHMANDU, Dec 16: The results of the House of Representatives and Province Assemblies elections are almost all out. But it appears that the constitution of the National Assembly, the upper House of the parliament, will take some time.

The left alliance comprising CPN-UML and CPN (Maoist Center) has won 116 of the 165 seats under the first-past-the-post system of the election to the House of Representatives election.

Political and legal debate is on regarding whether or not to carry ahead the process for forming new government as there is delay in the issuance of an ordinance related to the election process of the National Assembly as the major parties differ on the issue.

President Bidya Devi Bhandari has taken the initiatives in recent days to settle the dispute related to the election process of the National Assembly seen among the political parties in a compromise.

In this connection, the Head-of-the-State has held separate talks with Prime Minister and Nepali Congress president Sher Bahadur Deuba, UML Chairman KP Sharma Oli and Maoist Center chairman Pushpa Kamal Dahal ‘Prachanda’ on Friday and Saturday. The talks were focused on the formation of the National Assembly, the new government and contemporary issues.

According to political analysts, there is confusion regarding allocation of proportional representation seats in the House of Representatives, the lower house of federal Parliament, also as the constitutionally mandated 33 per cent participation of women in the federal parliament would not come by until the formation of the National Assembly.

Some among the political parties and law practitioners contend that the new government cannot be formed until the National Assembly is formed. There is another argument also that the President can call for the formation of a new government even when the National Assembly is not in place as there is new people’s mandate from the election.

The incumbent Council of Ministers as per its October 18 decision had presented before the President the ordinance regarding the election of National Assembly members for the presidential approval as the bill related to the members of the National Assembly could not be passed by the erstwhile Legislature-Parliament during its term.

The Nepali Congress has been pushing for having the representation in the National Assembly on the basis of single transferrable vote mode whereas the leftist alliance has been insisting on majoritarian system. It has been asserting that adopting the majoritarian system would be in consonance with the constitution.

Prime Minister Deuba has suggested to the President to approve the ordinance that the government has presented before her. The ordinance provides for adopting the single transferable vote system in the formation of the National Assembly.

On the other hand, UML Chair Oli has said that the government’s proposal for adopting the single transferable voting system contained in the ordinance is unconstitutional.

The Chief personal secretary of the President Bhesh Raj Adhikari said that the President in her meetings with the leaders of the major political parties has urged them to reach to an agreement on issues such as the ordinance.

“President’s stress is on consensus among the major political parties. The ordinance will be promulgated immediately after the parties reach to an agreement on this matter,” said Adhikari.

In the opinion of former lawmaker and advocate Ram Narayan Bidari it is the responsibility of the President to call for the formation of a new government after the final results of the first-past-the-post system of the election to the member of the House of Representatives held in two phases on November 26 and December 7 already been declared.

He said the leader of the political party commanding a majority in the parliament singly or in coalition with other parties can seek a vote of confidence from the House within a month of his/her beings appointed the Prime Minister by the President.

Part 8 of the Constitution has provisions for the formation of the federal legislature-parliament. As per the Article 83 of the constitution, the lower house of parliament, the House of Representatives, would be of 275 members while the upper house or the National Assembly would be of 59 members as per the Article 86.