In a session conducted on September 20, 2018, chairpersons of the ten parliamentary thematic committees were elected unopposed and six women from the ruling Nepal Communist Party (NCP) alone secured the positions for committees under the House of Representatives.

Niru Devi Pal, Shashi Shrestha, Kalyani Khadka, Purna Kumari Subedi, Pabitra Kharel Niraula and Jayapuri Gharti were among the elected.

With this, the number of federal parliament committees led by women grows to eight.

On the other hand, the National Assembly will also have parliamentary committees led by women.

In total, the Federal Parliament has 16 thematic committees with 10 in the House of Representatives and four in the National Assembly and two joint ones.

Elected female lawmakers are looking at this development as a step to fulfilling the constitutional requirements that mandate active women participation in the country’s policy-making.

Shashi Shrestha, one of the elected lawmakers, feels that the proper implementation of the constitutional provision has begun with this development.

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In another interesting move, Nepal’s Federal Parliament turned down the UNDP’s USD 5.9 million worth ‘Parliamentary Support Project’

The five-year project was signed between Manohar Bhattarai from the Parliament Secretariat and Renaud Meyer representative of UNDP on April 23, 2018.

UNDP has been providing logistic support and capacity enhancement since 2008 through this project, says a Parliament Secretariat official.

This move comes as a measure to protect Nepal laws that do not favor foreign aid in national business.

In a meeting, House of Representatives Speaker Krishna Bahadur Mahara told the Nepal Prime Minister K.P. Sharma Oli that foreign aid was not a Parliament issue, rather a government-related subject.

“The government should deal with issues related to foreign aid.

It does not fall under our jurisdiction,” says Mahara.

In the course of their meeting, Mahara advised that the project amount be diverted to the construction of a permanent Parliament building instead of investing on logistic support for lawmakers and secretariats of the National Assembly along with seven provincial assemblies and the Parliament.

The main aim of this project is to support the formulation of practices and procedures within the Federal Parliament and Nepal’s provincial assemblies, which reflect international best practices in terms of transparency, inclusivity, accountability and effectiveness.

“By working to establish a more accountable, transparent, inclusive and effective parliamentary system, it is possible to address a critical aspect of the domestic systems that are required to ensure full development of Nepal,” reads the agreement.

As a secondary benefit, this project will also build close relationships between the constitutionally-mandated democratic institutions in Nepal, and each province and will assess how the former will be used to aid the UN and other development co-assistants in doing their work on behalf of Nepali citizens.

The post UNDP Aid to Nepal: After SC, Now Parliament Says ‘No’ appeared first on Nepali Sansar.

Out of the 59 NA members, while 56 were elected from seven provinces, eight got shortlisted from each province followed by three recommendations nominated by the President.

Results of the Draw

Home Minister Ram Bahadur Thapa and National Assembly Chairman Ganesh Timilsina received a six-year tenure, while Finance Minister Yubaraj Khatiwada drew a two-year term.

Women Members of the National Assembly

The tenure of Nepal National Assembly’s women members has also been determined through a lottery system.

According to the draw conducted at the Federal Parliament in New Baneshwor, Bina Pokharel, Dil Kumar Rawal, Pramila Kumari, Deepa Gurung, Nanda Chhapai, Anita Devkota and Indu Kadariya have been elected for a six-year tenure.

Following both categories, Dhan Kumari Khatiwada, Sarita Prasain, Mukta Kumari Yadav, Mina Budha, Kamal Kumari Oli, Yutal Tamang and Binda Devi Ale are slated for a two-year term.In a similar way, Shashikala Dahal, Shanti Kumari Adhikari, Taradevi Bhatta, Nainkala Ojha, Udaya Sharma Poudel and Komal Oli have been appointed for four-year period.

The Selection Process

Murari Mahat, Joint Secretary at the Parliament Secretariat, refers to Article 86 (3) of the Nepali constitution, which recommends:

The first parliament formed according to the new constitution determines the tenure of NA members in a way that one-third members provide service for six years, one-third for four years and one-third members fulfill a two-year tenure. Members for the six and four-year terms include 20 members, while two-year term members account for 19 members.

Addressing the media on June 17, 2018, Rajendra Phuyal, Secretary of the National Assembly Secretariat, said the Parliament Secretariat will have boxes for each cluster and members who represent the cluster will have to draw lots from the same cluster.

He further added that there will be different boxes for each cluster, Dalits, differently-abled, women, and people from the minority communities besides separate box for 21 members; three of which from each province, elected from the open category.

The post Nepal National Assembly: Draw Selects 56 Members for 7 Provinces appeared first on Nepali Sansar.

In a landmark step, the newly-formed Oli-led Nepali Government is unveiling the country’s first federal budget for FY 2018-19 or FY 2075-76 (Nepali year) on May 29, 2018.

Nepal’s Finance Minister Yubraj Khatiwada will reveal the budget at a joint meeting in the Nepali Parliament on the aforementioned date at around 4 p.m.

Speaker of the House of Representatives, the lower house of the Federal Parliament of Nepal Krishna Bahadur Mahara announced this officially on May 27, 2018.

As per the Nepali Constitutional mandate, the Nepali Government is supposed to unveil the budget in a joint parliamentary meeting on Jestha 15 (May 15-June 14 as per the Western calendar), the second month of Bikram Samwat in the official Nepali calendar.

Expenditure Up for Economic Growth

As per the available sources, the Government of Nepal is most likely to place a Rs 16 trillion budget for the
FY 2018-19.

“The economic growth of the previous decade has remained average at 4.3 percent. Now it is expected to reach 5.9 percent this year,” says Yubaraj Khatiwada in his parliamentary address.

However, experts feel that the presumed economic growth can be achieved only by increasing the tax levied on the public.

“The expenditure has increased, the source of income has decreased constantly for which the government’s major focus lies on collecting revenue, which will hike the import plumping the custom duty that will definitely result in dearth, constant increment in the price of petroleum in the upcoming fiscal year,” says an economic expert and a senior Nepali journalist.

Two days prior to the budget day, the Finance Minister also noted that the finance deficit is most likely to reach 10.4 percent.

Inflation is a key matter of concern for the country; inflation in Nepal increased to 6 percent in the last eight months of the current fiscal year from a previous value of 2.3 percent.

Development & Fiscal Discipline

Assuring development while balancing the fiscal discipline remains a key area of focus for the Oli-led Nepali Government.

Prior to the budget, programs and policies on top priority for the government were announced on May 27, 2018, in which, social and infrastructure development projects took the top place.

While the National Planning Commission (NPC) is projecting the relevant budget to be at around Rs 1.2 trillion for such projects, the finance minister is expected that to be above Rs 1.45 trillion.

When it comes to pooling revenues, the government is aiming at a collection of Rs 1 trillion in the coming fiscal while also raising Rs 300 billion as a foreign fund.

According to the Finance Ministry officials, the provincial and local governments are most likely to see a significant budgetary allocation of around Rs 400 billion for developmental activities.

Overall, the government is looking at an 8 percent economic growth rate to meet the targets set by the annual policies and programs such as two-fold rise in per capita income in five-year period, among others.

Allocation Across Sectors

According to the Finance Ministry, a significant amount of budget will be allocated for flagship projects in infrastructure, energy, agriculture, tourism, among other sectors and on PM’s dream projects such as railways and waterways.

Energy and irrigation projects such as the Sunkoshi-Marine Diversion Program and Butwal-Sunauli cross-border transmission line are set to receive a due attention in the upcoming budget.

Some of the projects that are likely to receive budgetary attention include the Madan Bhandari Highway, railway expansion covering metro rail in Kathmandu, Kathmandu-Tarai Expressway and a feasibility study on Nepal-India waterways.

Taxation is another area that is going to see some significant changes in this budget. Along with a significant revisal of tax regime, the new budget is more likely for increased tax on import on luxury products such as liquor and cigarettes.

The government is also looking at royalties, land registration and fees as the additional sources of income for the treasury.

When it comes to the government sector, the civil servants’ salaries are not going to see any significant changes other than little adjustments in indirect benefits and allowances.

Allocation for social security allowance is also likely to take a back-step because of the increased allocation to the local and provincial bodies.

Overall, domestic industries are more likely to get the due support in this budget with those using local raw material on top priority.

Special Schemes

As part of schemes, a special program called ‘Sustainable Energy for All’ is going to be implemented with focus on renewable and hydropower sources. “We’ve focused on reservoir projects as well as expansion of transmission lines under this program,” says an NPC member.

Towards ensuring clean environment, another scheme called ‘Nepal Clean Environment Campaign’ also likely to be announced towards curbing air pollution and encourage the usage of electric vehicles.

Current Challenges, Ways Forward

Two of the key current challenges for Nepal are with regard to foreign exchange reserve and food deficit.

According to the Nepal Rastra Bank (NRB), Nepal’s foreign exchange reserves have come down over the last three months affecting the country’s ability to finance imports.

In its third quarterly review of the country’s monetary release on May 26, 2018, NRB reported a massive expansion of imports, outflow of dividends by foreign investors and slow growth of remittance contribution to decreased foreign exchange reserves.

NRB statistics show a decline in the country’s foreign exchange reserves from USD 10.31 billion in mid-July 2017 to USD 10.16 billion by mid-April of 2018, a decline over the previous fiscal.

After a consistent rise driven by rising remittances over the years, foreign exchange reserves of Nepal started dropping down since the mid of January 2018.

“We are not worried about current drop in foreign exchange reserves as our target is to keep such reserves to sustain the imports of goods and services for at least eight months. But, the situation may worsen provided the import continues to surge and remittance growth continues to slow and export does not grow as required,” says Nara Bahadur Thapa, Executive Director of NRB.

Meanwhile, the country is also currently facing a food deficit despite the surplus harvest in the current fiscal year. The Economic Survey 2017-18 released on May 27, 2018 has reported a food deficit of 71,400 tons in the current fiscal despite the presence of 898,115 tons surplus from the previous fiscal.

In another development with regard to trade, Nepal is hoping high on trade activity through India’s Vizag port. A Nepali delegation that visited Vizag (India) expressed confidence over controlling overall end-to-end logistics costs and improving trade supplies to Nepal through Vizag port’s infrastructure.

On an End Note

The new budget is definitely going to be a path-breaker for Nepal in its new path of development led by the newly-formed government. Besides internal functioning, the Oli-led government is also focusing high on external relations by expanding Nepal’s bilateral and business ties with other countries.

Let’s hope the new budget will create a needed scope for the country’s overall development while also balancing the nation’s external growth on a global scale!

Related Article:

• Nepal Federal Budget FY 2019-20: Highlights & Announcements

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An official announcement in this regard has been made by the Office of the President on February 19, 2018, wherein, the statement informed that the first meeting will begin at 4 PM in Nepal local time.

“As of today’s date, Falgun 7, 2074 (Feb 19, 2018), President Bidhya Devi Bhandari, upon receiving the recommendation from the Prime Minister, has called for the Federal Parliamentary meeting on 2074, Falgun 21, (March 2018) for 4 PM at the International Convention Center, New Baneshwor,” Kul Prasad Chudal, spokesperson for the Office of the President of Nepal.

This is the first time that Nepal is holding federal parliamentary meeting and comes as a step ahead towards successful implementation of the Nepal Constitution conducted in 2018.

This parliamentary meeting follows by the country’s important elections for House of Representatives on November 26 and December 7, 2017, wherein, around 275 members have been elected for the Federal Parliament.

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While 157 of the total 165 House of Representatives seats were announced so far under the First-Past-The-Post (FPTP) election, the leftist alliance alone garnered a total of 106 seats.

Of this, the Communist Parties of Nepal Unified Marxist-Leninist (CPN-UML) won the highest number of 74 seats followed by CPN-Maoist Centre (MC) that won 32 seats, informed the Election Commission on December 11, 2017.

With the left alliance moving towards forming majority in the Nepali Parliament, the Communist Alliance is projecting the erstwhile Prime Minister and the communist party leader Khadga Prasad Oli as its Prime Minister candidate.

Oli won from the Jhapa-5 constituency with more than 28,000 votes against the Nepali Congress candidate Khagendra Adhikari. Oli bagged 57,139 votes in total, the highest number of votes secured by any contestant in this election.

CPN Chairman Pushpa Kumar Dahal, another name in PM’s race, got elected to the Federal Parliament from the Chitwan-3 constituency for his win against the Rastriya Prajatantra Party (RPP) candidate Bikram Pandey with 48, 276 votes.

Meanwhile, the current Prime Minister Sher Bahadur Deuba registered victory in the Dadeldhura-1 constituency against Khaga Raj Bhatta of CPN with 28, 044 votes.

Rajendra Mahato from Dhanusa-3 constituency with 30, 742 votes, Upendra Yadav from Saptari-2 constituency with 21,620 votes, Gagan Thapa from Kathmandu-4 constituency with 21, 558 votes were among others who got elected to the Nepali Federal Parliament.

With Communist alliance leading the race, experts feel Oli could be the next Prime Minister of Nepal.

“We can expect Oli to lead a stable government with the Maoists as strong allies. Once there is a political stability, he can implement a development agenda and attract foreign investment,” opines Bipin Adhikari, a constitutional expert.

Meanwhile, in Proportional Representation (PR) category, UML stands leading with 936,442 votes, followed by Nepali Congress (NC) in the second position with 878,824 votes and CPN-MC in the third position with 385,434 votes.

The post Nepal General Elections 2017: Oli Likely To be the Next PM appeared first on Nepali Sansar.

A total of 4,482 candidates are competing in this phase that is being held at 15,344 polling centers across 45 districts of the country.

The first phase, held on November 26, 2017, was held across 32 districts.

While the first round saw around 65 percent voter participation, the Nepal Election Commission (EC) expects the second phase polls to register more than 70 percent turnout with over 12.2 million voters exercising their vote.

The completion of this First-Past-The-Post (FPTP) election will result in formation of Federal Parliament at the Center and Provincial Assemblies across seven provinces of the country as planned in the new constitution in 2015.

The counting process will also begin the same day in the evening.

A Worth-waiting Election

The world governments, especially the bordering nations, are eagerly watching this landmark election of Nepal.

“I think the party I feel like voting [for] is popular because it strongly claims Nepal as a nation that is capable of bringing those golden days of Nepal back, where Nepal stood economically, socially and politically strong without aid dependency,” says Lawyer Jyoti Singh Bhandari.

“The Election Commission calls on all eligible voters to take part in the elections to convey a strong message to those who are against the implementation of the constitution as well as political stability in the country,” reads a statement by the Chief Election Commissioner (CEC) Ayodhee Prasad Yadav.

While Nepal has saw a governmental transition 26 times in the past 28 years, many hope this election would end long-standing political turmoil and open ways for new Nepali constitution, while also bringing in needed development across the country.

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