INSUBCONTINENT EXCLUSIVE:
KATHMANDU, MARCH 6The House of Representatives has formed an 11-member impeachment recommendation committee to probe
into the impeachment motion filed against Chief Justice Cholendra Shamsher Rana on February 13.
Impeachment motion against
CJ Rana next agenda in HoR
Panel formed to rescue Nepalis stuck in Ukraine
Speaker Agni Prasad Sapkota announced the
formation of the impeachment recommendation committee during the House meeting today.
The UML, which has been obstructing
House proceedings for almost six months, consented to send four of its lawmakers to the committee
They are Bishnu Prasad Poudel, Krishna Bhakta Pokharel, Lalbabu Pandit, and Shivamaya Tumbahangphe.Other members of the committee are Rekha
Sharma and Yashoda Gurung Subedi from NCP-Maoist Centre, and Min Bahadur Bishwakarma and Ram Bahadur Bista from the NC
Similarly, Pramod Sah of Janata Samajbadi Party-Nepal, Ekbal Miya from Democratic Socialist Party-Nepal and Kalyani Kumari Khadka from CPN
(Unified Socialist) are also members of the committee.Spokesperson for the Parliament Secretariat Rojanth Pandey said the HoR could now
discuss the impeachment motion filed against CJ Rana and send it to the impeachment recommendation committee which will probe the 21-point
allegations levelled against Rana in the impeachment motion.The committee will make its work procedure itself, choose a coordinator and
complete its investigation in three months before sending a report to the HoR.Once the committee sends its report to the HoR, the House will
conduct a debate on the committee's findings and put the motion to vote
CJ Rana will lose his job if the impeachment motion is passed by two-thirds majority of the HoR, said Pandey.Meanwhile, Minister of Law,
Justice and Parliamentary Affairs Dilendra Prasad Badu told me diapersons after the House of Representatives meeting today that he took the
UML's consent to send its lawmakers to the impeachment recommendation committee as its readiness to end its obstruction in the
Parliament.Badu expected the UML to play active role in the parliamentary proceedings so that the legislature could pass some urgent bills,
including citizenship bill.Thousands of eligible citizens have not been able to enjoy their rights due to non-enactment of the new
In the absence of citizenship certificates, these people have not been able to open bank accounts and apply for jobs, Badu added.Asked if
the government was mulling early elections or holding all three types of elections - provincial, federal and local - together, Badu said
that if the Parliament was continuously obstructed like this, then there would be no relevance of the HoR
He said he favoured running the House till its full five years' term.Ruling coalition leader and Chair of CPN (Unified Socialist) Madhav
Kumar Nepal had earlier told mediapersons that they were thinking of holding early elections and all elections in a package
"If the HoR is dissolved, KP Sharma Oli cannot do what pleases him
His party lawmakers draw salary, but continue obstructing House proceedings.Oli has tormented us a lot," Nepal said and added that they were
talking of delaying local polls
The government has announced local polls for May 13.CPN-MC leader Barshaman Pun, however, said that in the face of continued obstruction of
parliamentary proceedings by the CPN- UML, it was natural for ruling party leaders to think about holding early elections, but doing so was
a little difficult from the standpoint of weather and logistics.Chairperson of JSP-N Upendra Yadav, said he was not consulted by any ruling
party leader about the idea of holding early elections.Deputy Parliamentary Party leader of UML Subas Chandra Nembang said that despite
sending their lawmakers to the impeachment recommendation committee, his party would continue to obstruct House proceedings until their
He said his party's decision to consent to its representation in the committee was consistent with its decision to take part in other
activities of the Parliament such as in the parliamentary committees.UML had opposed the impeachment motion against Rana
Nembang said talk of early elections could be a ploy of the ruling coalition to delay local polls.A version of this article appears in the
print on March 7, 2022, of The Himalayan Times.
This article first appeared/also appeared in https://thehimalayantimes.com