KATHMANDU – Opposition parties have obstructed the parliament session over the authentication of the citizenship bill forcing the postponement of the meeting.
Opposition parties including CPN (UML), Rastriya Swatantra Party (RSP) and Rastriya Prajatantra Party (RPP) have been protesting the authentication of the bill. The bill should be endorsed through the parliamentary process, they demanded.
Before the protest, Finance Minister Dr Prakash Sharan Mahat was scheduled to table a proposal to commence general deliberation on the annual estimation of revenue and expenditures for the coming fiscal year, 2023/24.
The citizenship bill should be tabled in the parliament through the constitutional procedure, and the parliament should be allowed its full business to pass it within a week, said UML chief whip Padam Giri.
“The ‘authenticated’ citizenship bill should be invalidated. A new amendment proposal should be tabled in the parliament, and arrangements be made for providing citizenship certificates to deprived people within one week after holding extensive discussion,” he demanded. The process of certification of the bill should have followed the due procedures, said RSP chief whip Santosh Pariyar.