Budget only after May 28
KATHMANDU, 2 May:
Following mounting pressure from the opposition parties, the government has put on hold early budget till May 28, the deadline set by the Constituent Assembly to promulgate new constitution.
The budget session of the Parliament will begin tomorrow with Speaker Subas Chandra Nembang reading out a letter received from the President to this effect. Tomorrow’s cabinet meeting will announce the official decision to defer the budget till May 28, according to government and parliamentary sources.
Earlier, the government had planned to table the budget estimates for 2011/12 on May 23.
It was also planned that Deputy Prime Minister and Finance Minister Bharat Mohan Adhikari would outline the “principles” and “priorities” of the budget at tomorrow’s session of Parliament, which was also scheduled to set dates for pre-budget discussions.
“The plan of early budget has now been put on hold,” a parliamentary sources quoted the Speaker as saying.
Prime Minister Jhala Nath Khanal agreed in informal meetings with the opposition leaders and the Speaker that he would “move ahead after consulting the opposition about the timing of presenting the budget”.
Eleven opposition parties have already decided that they would not cooperate with the government if the latter intended to bring the fiscal budget before May 28 and have urged the ruling parties to concentrate on concluding the peace process and drafting new constitution. The opposition parties have been saying that the budget can be presented in the House by mid-July.
Asked about other businesses of the House, Speaker Nembang said the government had to table the Bill on Truth and Reconciliation Commission, Bill on Disappearances, Bill on Asia-Pacific Group of Money Laundering and Financing and two UN international conventions. The two international conventions need to be ratified by the Parliament not later than June 23, otherwise, Nepal would be blacklisted.
The United Nations International Convention on Combating Investment on Terrorism and United Nations Convention against Transnational Organised Crimes are the two conventions for which the UN has been lobbying for ratification by its member states.
Nepal will be “blacklisted” if these conventions are not passed through the Parliament at the earliest, said Nembang.
Both the international conventions were registered with the Parliament Secretariat by the previous government on October 5 and 11 in 2009, but they could not be ratified due to government change.
The Khanal-led government registered the international conventions with the Parliament Secretariat on March 8.
Source: THT
Following mounting pressure from the opposition parties, the government has put on hold early budget till May 28, the deadline set by the Constituent Assembly to promulgate new constitution.
The budget session of the Parliament will begin tomorrow with Speaker Subas Chandra Nembang reading out a letter received from the President to this effect. Tomorrow’s cabinet meeting will announce the official decision to defer the budget till May 28, according to government and parliamentary sources.
Earlier, the government had planned to table the budget estimates for 2011/12 on May 23.
It was also planned that Deputy Prime Minister and Finance Minister Bharat Mohan Adhikari would outline the “principles” and “priorities” of the budget at tomorrow’s session of Parliament, which was also scheduled to set dates for pre-budget discussions.
“The plan of early budget has now been put on hold,” a parliamentary sources quoted the Speaker as saying.
Prime Minister Jhala Nath Khanal agreed in informal meetings with the opposition leaders and the Speaker that he would “move ahead after consulting the opposition about the timing of presenting the budget”.
Eleven opposition parties have already decided that they would not cooperate with the government if the latter intended to bring the fiscal budget before May 28 and have urged the ruling parties to concentrate on concluding the peace process and drafting new constitution. The opposition parties have been saying that the budget can be presented in the House by mid-July.
Asked about other businesses of the House, Speaker Nembang said the government had to table the Bill on Truth and Reconciliation Commission, Bill on Disappearances, Bill on Asia-Pacific Group of Money Laundering and Financing and two UN international conventions. The two international conventions need to be ratified by the Parliament not later than June 23, otherwise, Nepal would be blacklisted.
The United Nations International Convention on Combating Investment on Terrorism and United Nations Convention against Transnational Organised Crimes are the two conventions for which the UN has been lobbying for ratification by its member states.
Nepal will be “blacklisted” if these conventions are not passed through the Parliament at the earliest, said Nembang.
Both the international conventions were registered with the Parliament Secretariat by the previous government on October 5 and 11 in 2009, but they could not be ratified due to government change.
The Khanal-led government registered the international conventions with the Parliament Secretariat on March 8.
Source: THT
