The parliament has not been able to meet since the sixth session of the second term of the Karnali Provincial Assembly, which ended on August 21.
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The Karnali Provincial Assembly meeting has become uncertain after the building was destroyed by arson and vandalism on Bhadra 24.
The sixth session of the second term of the Karnali Provincial Assembly ended on August 21. Since then, the parliament has not been able to hold a session.
After the arson attack by protesters on August 24, the assembly hall, secretariat, meeting hall, offices of three parliamentary parties, and two thematic committee buildings out of 23 blocks of the Karnali Provincial Assembly were completely destroyed. Due to this, the government has not been able to convene the parliament session, the provincial assembly secretariat has said.
After the fire, only daily administrative work and parliamentary committee meetings are being held in the Karnali Provincial Assembly. Netra Bahadur Karki, spokesperson for the provincial assembly secretariat, said that the parliament session has been in chaos after most of the office rooms, documents, furniture, computers, electronic equipment and other materials were destroyed due to the arson attack.
‘Until last year, the parliament session was to be held after Dashain-Tihar,’ he said, ‘It is not possible to convene a meeting here immediately without reconstruction, discussions are currently underway about an alternative venue.’
He said that since it is a constitutional obligation to resume the parliament session within 6 months, the session should be convened by Magh 21 anyway.
The absence of a parliament session has made the MPs more relaxed. ‘If there was a parliament session, we would have stayed in Surkhet,’ said Provincial Assembly member Bedraj Singh, ‘Most of us are busy with programs in the districts.’
Provincial Assembly member Kal Bahadur Hamal said that due to the absence of a parliament session, it has not been possible to address the problems of the people, warn the government, and discuss various drafts. ‘Without a parliament, we have become busy with personal and party work,’ he said, ‘The number of people traveling to the provincial capital has also decreased.’
According to the Provincial Assembly Secretariat, the initial estimate of damage due to arson and vandalism is around Rs 40 million. Chief Minister Yamalal Kandel has given instructions for the reconstruction of the Provincial Assembly building, saying that there will be no budget shortage.
However, Provincial Assembly Secretariat Secretary Jeevraj Budhathoki said that the reconstruction work has not yet begun. ‘Since all the documents have also been burned, we have to work from scratch,’ he said, ‘We have not yet discussed the operation and location of the upcoming meeting.’
Secretary Budhathoki said that the buildings of various ministries or directorates, the District Coordination Committee hall and the City Hall are being considered as alternative venues for the immediate parliament meeting.
Parliamentary committees have become more active after the parliament meeting could not be held. The parliamentary committees of Karnali have become more active. The Karnali parliament has a Social Development Committee, an Economy and Natural Resources Committee, a Provincial Affairs and Legislation Committee and a Public Accounts Committee.
The Provincial Assembly Secretariat has stated that 28 meetings of various committees have been held since the movement. The Social Development Committee has held the most meetings, with 16, said committee chairman Purna Bahadur Khatri. “The committees have been made active until the parliament meeting is called,” he said. “The committees are working on giving instructions to the government on various public concerns, preparing drafts of various bills, and more.”
