The meeting of the parliamentary hearing committee has yet again been postponed in lack of quorum.
The parliament regulation requires presence of the majority of total strength to complete quorum. The meeting scheduled for Tuesday, after the postponement on Sunday also due to lack of quorum, has been postponed as just seven members of the 15-member committee turned up.
CPN lawmaker Shiv Kumar Mandal Kewat was scheduled to attend the meeting after flying to Kathmandu from Biratnagar. The meeting was postponed after his flight was delayed. CPN lawmaker Surendra Pandey is currently abroad while another CPN lawmaker Suman Raj Pyakurel is in Saptari.
Federal Socialist Forum Nepal (FSFN) lawmaker Rajendra Shrestha was also absent on Tuesday. "He did not come to the meeting. His mobile was also switched off," a committee member told Setopati.
The meeting will now be held on Thursday.
Four lawmakers of the main opposition Nepali Congress (NC) have been boycotting the recent meetings of the committee headed by Laxman Lal Karna stating that recommendation of the chairmen for the five constitutional bodies is illegal.
The meeting scheduled for Thursday was postponed until Sunday with some of the lawmakers of ruling CPN outside the Kathmandu Valley.
Hearings of Balananda Paudel for chairman of the National Natural Resources and Fiscal Commission, and Shanta Raj Subedi for that of National Inclusion Commission have been completed but the committee has yet to endorse them. Federal Socialist Forum Nepal has been opposing recommendation of Subedi.
The committee is also investigating citizenship and educational certificates of Samim Ansari recommended to chair the Muslim Commission.
The Constitution Council on January 20 had recommended five chiefs of different constitutional bodies when NC President Sher Bahadur Deuba was out of the Kathmandu Valley. NC has been boycotting the meeting for hearing of the five chairmen stating the names were recommended in the absence of main opposition leader.
The government had recommended former secretary Balananda Paudel as chairman of the National Natural Resources and Fiscal Commission, former secretary Shanta Raj Subedi as that of National Inclusion Commission, Bijay Kumar Dutta in the Madhesi Commission, Bishnu Kumar Chaudhary in the Tharu Commission and Samim Ansari in the Muslim Commission.
Hearings for Dutta and Chaudhary also have not been held yet.
