National Assembly meeting stalled

Kathmandu: The main opposition CPN (UML) obstructed the meeting of the National Assembly, the upper house of the Federal Parliament today, protesting against the President's assent to the Citizenship Bill.

Soon after the commencement of the Assembly meeting, the UML lawmakers stood from their seats and obstructed the proceedings objecting to the President's certification of the Bill. UML lawmaker Bhairab Sundar Shrestha demanded a correction of the President's move of granting assent to the Bill without the current parliament's deliberation on it.

'The President has given his assent to the Bill. The CPN (UML) is clear in its view that Nepali citizenship should be granted to a bona fide Nepali citizen on the basis of descent, but sending the Bill to the President for his assent through a decision of the Council of Ministers and bypassing the Parliament is objectionable, non-democratic and unconstitutional,' he argued.

Shrestha also took exception to what he called the Prime Minister making a statement in a foreign land that the country's territories could be exchanged. The UML lawmakers demanded an answer from the government on this as well. The meeting has now been postponed for 29 minutes after the UML lawmakers' obstruction.

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