More

    Nepal’s President Puts Her Foot Down, Refuses to Sign Citizenship Bill

    Civil societyDemocracyNepal’s President Puts Her Foot Down, Refuses to Sign...
    - Advertisment -

    Nepal’s President Puts Her Foot Down, Refuses to Sign Citizenship Bill

    If signed into law, the bill will grant citizenship rights to thousands of people, mostly of Indian origin. How the proposed law could help the ruling coalition at the hustings might be a matter of debate, but at the moment, the president has thrown the spanner in the works.

    Nepal’s president Bidya Devi Bhandari refused to sign an amended citizenship bill cleared by lawmakers from both houses of its bicameral rastriya sabha or national assembly.

    Political observers see a constitutional crisis in the making as the president, a constitutional head of state with no executive powers is putting the brakes on a legislative process.

    The president has powers to return a bill once – as she had already done with the bill that has the weight of the ruling coalition.

    - Advertisement -

    If signed and approved to become a law, the bill will grant citizenship to over 500,000 people, giving the eligible among them the right to vote in the parliamentary elections due later this year when 275 seats in the national assembly will be up for grabs.

    More importantly, it will pave the way for thousands of Madheshis, or people of Indian ancestry to become citizens and to vote. The present law does, however, provide for women married across the porous international border between Nepal and India to opt for citizenship (People on both sides of the border have a shared culture and marriages across the border are commonplace.)

    The politics

    These new citizens can tilt scales in favour of the ruling coalition in the country’s Terrai plains bordering India.

    The proposed law will provide citizenship rights to children whose parents’ whereabouts are not known. It will also enable foreign nationals of Nepali origin to do business in Nepal.

    If the bill is approved and becomes law, it will allow tens of hundreds of Madheshi community members – a term to define those people in Nepal with Indian ancestry who mainly reside in the plains of the Himalayan nation — citizenship and voting rights.

    The Madheshis are often discriminated by the dominant ruling (upper) caste groups, often described as the Baun-Chettri combine.

    But the president has sought a thorough review of the bill, and political observers suspect her stand will help the country’s main opposition party, the Communist Party of Nepal-Unified Marxist Leninist (CPN-UML) led by former prime minister K P Oli, whose blames India for his ousting from power. Oli is known to use the nationalist card.

    The CPN-UML says that such an expansion of the voter base will support political parties attached to the present ruling coalition seen leaning towards New Delhi – a euphemism for parties compromising on the Nepali identity and Nepali national interests.

    KP Oli, the former prime minister, along with other opposition parties, said the analyst, is “using the nationalist card.”

    Oli and his party are demanding a tweaking of the bill, so that they do not appear altogether insensitive to the issue of nationality, a sensitive subject in the Terrai. They suggest that the bill could include a seven-year window provision for women of foreign origin to acquire Nepali citizenship.

    Grey area

    In the meantime, the president’s refusal to sign the bill into law threatens to become a big political issue that could well take the centre stage in the run-up to the elections.

    And though the Nepalese constitution provides for impeaching the president, an impeachment might well remain a pipe dream as the term of the lower house is approaching its end and the ruling combine cannot muster a three-fourths majority to impeach the president.

    President Bidya Devi Bhandari’s present term too will also end around the same time as a new lower house is elected.

    The other option the government has is to move court. But this is a grey area.

    - Advertisement -

    LEAVE A REPLY

    Please enter your comment!
    Please enter your name here

    Latest news

    Pakistan: Federal and Sindh Governments Move Toward Dialogue Over Contentious Canals Dispute

    The canals project, primarily the TP Link Canal initiative in the Cholistan region of Punjab, has been the subject of intense criticism from the Sindh government, opposition parties, and civil society.

    Herding Hope 2025: National Goat Summit Charts a Smart and Inclusive Future for India’s Goat Economy

    Farhad Vania, Portfolio Management Advisor, GIZ India emphasized GIZ’s commitment to agroforestry, agriculture, and goat-related projects in India through Indo-German partnerships.

    World Economy Teeters on Recessionary Edge amid Rising Trade Tensions and Financial Uncertainty, UNCTAD Warns

    The report stresses that as the world stares down the possibility of a widespread recession, the urgency for cohesive, multilateral solutions has never been greater.

    Bangladesh: Commission Pushes Sweeping Legal Reforms to Eliminate Gender Disparities

    The commission called for enforcement of the existing rule mandating 33 per cent women’s representation in political parties under the Representation of the People Order. It also proposed institutional reforms within parties to address corruption and create enabling environments for women.
    - Advertisement -

    UN Trade Body Urges US to Exempt Vulnerable Economies from Tariff Hikes amid Rising Trade Tensions

    Despite their marginal impact, many of these countries could face tariff rates as high as 50 per cent, such as Lesotho, while Cameroon could face 11 per cent.

    Countries Finalise Historic Pandemic Agreement After Three Years of Negotiations

    The text affirms national sovereignty in public health decisions. It states explicitly that nothing in the agreement gives WHO the authority to mandate health measures such as lockdowns, vaccination campaigns, or border closures.

    Must read

    Pakistan: Federal and Sindh Governments Move Toward Dialogue Over Contentious Canals Dispute

    The canals project, primarily the TP Link Canal initiative in the Cholistan region of Punjab, has been the subject of intense criticism from the Sindh government, opposition parties, and civil society.

    Herding Hope 2025: National Goat Summit Charts a Smart and Inclusive Future for India’s Goat Economy

    Farhad Vania, Portfolio Management Advisor, GIZ India emphasized GIZ’s commitment to agroforestry, agriculture, and goat-related projects in India through Indo-German partnerships.
    - Advertisement -

    More from the sectionRELATED
    Recommended to you