PM seeks lawyers’ suggestions on budget, CA polls

KATHMANDU, JUL 04 -

At a time when the political parties are divided over presenting the annual budget and holding the Constituent Assembly elections scheduled for November 22, lawyers have given differing suggestions to Prime Minister Baburam Bhattarai on these issues.

While some lawyers have suggested that the government can bring only one third of the total estimated budget in line with the Supreme Court verdict of Sunday, others said the government could bring budget, as there is nothing as partial or full budget. The PM invited lawyers to his office on Tuesday to solicit their views on legal provisions regarding the election and the budget.

According to Nepal Bar Association Chairman Prem Bahadur Khadka, he told the PM that there is no way in which the constitution can be amended. Therefore, legal hurdles to elections cannot be removed and the elections scheduled for November 22 cannot be held. On the budget issue, Khadka said the government could bring only one third of the budget through ordinance in line with the recent SC verdict.

Echoing Khadka, former Attorney General Yuvraj Sangraula said as per the apex court verdict, the government could bring only one third of the budget through ordinance. However, he suggested that the government could bring full budget if there was political consensus. “But no new tax policies or long-term plans can be tabled by the incumbent or new government,” said Sangraula.

Sangraula said that the government should clear legal hurdles for holding polls. “Since it is not possible to amend the constitution, the President, on the recommendation of the Cabinet, can remove the constitutional hurdles. But for that, consensus among all parties is a must,” said Sangraula.

Advocate Ram Narayan Bidari however suggested to the PM that as per Article 93 of the Interim Constitution, the finance minister is supposed to present the annual budget before the Legislature-Parliament. “However, in the absence of parliament, the finance minister may present it in the Cabinet.” On CA elections, Bidari said it was not necessary to amend the constitution as Clause 7 (b) of Article 63 could be evoked, which states that if the position of a Constituent Assembly member falls vacant owing to any reason and needs to be filled, every Nepali citizen who has attained the age of 18 by the end of mid-April of the previous year, immediate to election, will be entitled to vote.

Another advocate Surendra Mahato suggested the same provision of Article 63 for holding polls. On the budget, Mahato said there is no such thing as full or partial budget so the government could introduce it through ordinance.


Source: http://www.ekantipur.com/2012/07/04/top-story/pm-seeks-lawyers-suggestions-on-budget-ca-polls/356573/