While past parliaments are evaluated in their respective contexts, the initial days of this parliament have not been encouraging either. In particular, there has been no deep collaboration between the government and parliament.
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Only occasionally does a new face dominate the House. In Nepal, the first Parliament of 2016, the Parliament of 2048 formed after the end of the three-decade-long Panchayat regime, the first Constituent Assembly/Parliament formed after 10 years of Maoist-led armed struggle and the Madhesh movement, and the Parliament formed in 2082 after the Gen-G movement have been dominated by new faces. However, with the dominance of new faces, innovation is sought in the working style of the Parliament. A rush is sought to make parliamentary activism more active. The evaluation of the past Parliaments will be made in related contexts, and the initial days of this Parliament have not looked encouraging either. In particular, there has not been deep cooperation between the government and the Parliament. A shadow of this is seen in the bills coming to the House. If the government does not register the bill, there will be a lack of business in the House. The main responsibility of providing business to the House lies with the government. Therefore, the government should take this issue seriously.
Since the formation of the new government on 13 Chaitra, only one bill has been registered in the Parliament, except for the budget and the replacement of the ordinance. There are three bills related to the budget, including raising national debt, appropriation and finance. The replacement bill for eight ordinances brought by the government to amend various acts last month has not been tabled in parliament. The proposal to accept/reject the ordinance has not been tabled either. Apart from finance and ordinances, only the Nepal Rastra Bank (Third Amendment) has been registered in the House of Representatives among regular bills. The Law Ministry has a list of 45 bills that can be registered in parliament from various ministries this fiscal year. However, there is no bill in a state of preparation that can be immediately submitted to parliament. Usually, the debate in the budget session focuses more on bills related to the budget. However, with the passage of such bills, the House should not be in a situation where there is no business due to the lack of regular bills.
For some time now, both houses have not been able to function smoothly due to various reasons. There has not been a smooth debate. Due to which people's interest and attraction towards the House has not been created. There are two reasons why we can expect a lot of bills besides the budget at this time. First, the pace at which the government is trying to give a sense of work is related to the exercise of executive authority. Therefore, it is hoped that it will also take the initiative to make laws at the same pace. This will make the government and parliament active together. It will also create direct and indirect dialogue between both organs. It also strengthens the foundation of accountability and rule of law. Second, the Council of Ministers meeting held on 13 Chaitra had approved the '100 agendas related to governance reforms'. Through it, the priorities and commitments of the new government were made public. A lot of laws are also needed for their implementation. The government has brought an ordinance to implement some of the points on the agenda. However, the ordinance is only an 'emergency legal arrangement'. The right and responsibility to make laws lies with the Parliament. For that, the government has to provide business. Therefore, bills should be registered to address its momentum, commitment and parliamentary responsibilities.
For some time now, both houses have not been able to function smoothly due to various reasons. There has not been a smooth debate. Due to which people's interest and attraction towards the House has not been created. If this situation continues, the House may be treated as a place for fighting and accusations, creating resentment. Therefore, at this time, there is a need to keep the House busy with specific business, i.e., arguments and debates on any agenda. In that process, the people's agenda will enter the House, making the government accountable, and enriching bills and proposals. If the government cannot or is not providing business, then the Parliament itself can create business for itself. In fact, our parliamentary practice is very weak in this regard. Even the Speakers are not seen paying attention to creating business. Whereas, the Speaker can establish the activity of the House by initiating discussions on contemporary or specific issues. If the government is not registering a bill, the MPs can register private/non-government bills and establish the activity of the House.
The number of bills and the priority given by the government to the House are on one side. But the question of whether the House has meaningful discussions and mature conclusions on the bills that are received is on the other. In this, the House has repeatedly failed. The latest example of this is the National Assembly. The National Assembly is being criticized for failing to send back the Alternative Development Finance Mobilization Bill passed by the House of Representatives within 15 days. The House of Representatives passed the bill, which was registered as a Finance Bill, on 7 Jestha and sent it to the National Assembly. According to the constitution, the National Assembly had to send back the bill within 15 days of receiving it from the House of Representatives. But the bill was not even discussed in the National Assembly. Whereas, the National Assembly is considered a mature assembly. The National Assembly's mature suggestions and improvements are expected in the bills and other proposals passed by the House of Representatives. But the National Assembly has been failing in that main responsibility.
The government must give the House business. Otherwise, the government, which could have a long-term impact in many areas by issuing eight ordinances at once, cannot give the House a regular bill, which raises questions about its intentions. When the ordinances were issued last Baisakh, the ruling party used to say that it would take a long time to go through the regular bill, so it gave priority to result-oriented work by issuing ordinances. However, while the session of the Parliament is still in progress, the bill has not been registered. Therefore, there is no coherence between the working style of the government, there is a contradiction. This trend must be improved. But the work of creating business by the parliament itself should also be a priority. That is what ensures the activeness of the parliament.
