Parliament Forms 81-member Special Committee on Security

A meeting of the Legislative-Parliament on February 24 decided to form an 81-member special committee that would work specifically on security issues of the country. Members of the committee include Nepali Congress leaders Sher Bahadur Deuba and Ram Chandra Poudel, UML leaders Jhalanath Khanal, KP Oli and Madhav Kumar Nepal along with UCPN (Maoist) leaders Dr Baburam Bhattarai, Krishna Bahadur Mahara and Janardan Sharma, among others. Similarly, the Prime Minister, Home Minister, Defense Minister and three individuals nominated by the PM also remain the committee’s members. 

 

Onsari Gharti Magar Elected CA Vice-chair

UCPN (Maoist) lawmaker Onsari Gharti Magar was elected the Constituent Assembly vice-chairperson and Deputy Speaker of the Legislature-Parliament in an election on February 26. Magar received 484 votes, securing a clear majority out of the 489 votes cast. Her candidacy was proposed by UCPN (M) leader Krishna Bahadur Mahara and supported by Nepali Congress lawmaker Ananda Dhungana on Tuesday. Magar’s only contender was Anuradha Thapa from Nepal Workers and Peasants Party.

 

Koirala Expands Cabinet 

Two weeks after his election as the country’s top executive, Prime Minister Sushil Koirala on Tuesday (February 25) expanded his two-member Cabinet, inducting 18 new ministers and one Minister of State. The new ministers include 10 from the major coalition partner CPN (UML) and nine from the Neplali Congress. “With today’s Cabinet expansion and UML’s participation, the new coalition government will be a stable one,” said Minendra Rijal, the newly appointed Minister for Information and Communications. Unlike the NC ministers, UML members are relatively new faces. Six UML ministers are not members of parliament. Gautam served as DPM and Home Minister twice, in 1997 in the Lokendra Bahadur Chand-led government and then in the Pushpa Kamal Dahal-led government in 2008.

 

‘We will promulgate democratic statute within a year’

Newly elected Minister for Information and Communications Minendra Rijal said the Nepali Congress and CPN-UML will write a new constitution incorporating the views of entire Nepali people. Speaking at a felicitation programme in the Capital on February 26, Minister Rijal said the two parties have formed the government with a view to delivering the constitution within a year. Minister Rijal said, “This government will be focused on constitution writing. No one can topple this government as it is formed by the two largest parties. We will come up with a democratic constitution incorporating the views of entire Nepali people.”

 

Local elections in six months: Deputy PM Singh

Deputy Prime Minister and Minister for Local Development, Prakash Man Singh has said that elections to the local bodies (DDCs, VDCs and municipalities) will be held within the next six months. Speaking at a programme in Kathmandu on Feb 27, Singh said the lack of people’s representatives at the local bodies has increased hassles of the citizens in getting services from the government offices. “We want to end the difficulty faced by people while receiving services from the local bodies. For this to happen, we need to conduct the local elections,” Singh said.