The main opposition party, CPN (Maoist Center), has said that it is prepared to vote to retain the cooling-off period provision in the Federal Civil Service Bill.
During discussions held in the National Assembly’s Committee for Legislation Management, Maoist Center lawmaker Suresh Ale Magar said that they were ready to vote on the provision if necessary.
“So far, there has been no situation requiring a vote on bills. We hope it doesn’t come to that in this bill either. Let’s proceed by keeping the cooling-off period provision,” he said.
The Maoist Center is the largest party in the National Assembly.
The government is in a minority in the National Assembly after the Janata Samajwadi Party Nepal, led by Upendra Yadav, withdrew its support to the government. The JSP Nepal has three lawmakers in the National Assembly.
Therefore, the government is in the difficult position of having to persuade the opposition to pass the bill.
CPN-UML lawmakers in the National Assembly have proposed amendments to remove the cooling-off period provision from the bill.
The government had introduced the Federal Civil Service Bill, including a provision stipulating that government employees of special-class and first-class categories must wait two years after retirement before being eligible for appointments other than constitutional or diplomatic roles.
The House of Representatives passed the bill with a provision barring government employees from taking up constitutional or other government appointments for two years after retiring or resigning.
This provision, requiring retired employees to wait two years before being eligible for another appointment, is popularly known as the cooling-off period.
In the National Assembly, the Nepali Congress and Maoist Center support retaining the cooling-off period, while UML is against it.
Minister for Federal Affairs and General Administration Bhagawati Neupane has urged the committee to finalize the bill soon.
According to the Constitution, the National Assembly is required to pass a bill within two months of its passage in the House of Representatives.
According to this provision, the committee has until September 2 to pass the bill.
Minister Neupane has urged the committee to form a subcommittee, if necessary, to finalize the bill.
The committee began discussions on the bill on Wednesday. On the first day, theoretical discussions and consultations with amendment proposers were concluded.
During Wednesday’s meeting, two lawmakers clashed over the cooling-off period issue during the theoretical discussion.
UML lawmaker Anjan Shakya proposed that the cooling-off period issue should be included in laws related to conflict of interest.
However, CPN (Unified Socialist) lawmaker Ghanashyam Rijal objected to the committee chair, arguing that time was being allotted for theoretical discussions on a bill that hadn’t even been introduced.
Committee Chair Tulasa Kumari Dahal then advised lawmaker Shakya to stay focused on the issue.
The Federal Civil Service Bill, which had serious flaws during its formulation in the House of Representatives, is being prepared for passage in the National Assembly by September 2. However, reaching a consensus remains a challenge as parties are divided over the cooling-off period.
The State Affairs and Good Governance Committee of the House of Representatives had agreed to include a two-year cooling-off period. However, after discrepancies were found in the report of the bill passed by the House, an investigation committee was formed to look into the matter.
The investigation committee concluded that committee Chairman Ramhari Khatiwada bore moral responsibility for the discrepancies. Khatiwada then resigned from his position as the committee’s chairman.
