Wasted winter

Worst fears about the winter session of the federal parliament have unfortunately come true.

As he declared an end to the winter session of the federal parliament, Speaker Devraj Ghimire could barely hide his disappointment. “When it comes to law-making and taking up issues of public interest, this session, I feel, was more productive compared to earlier ones. Yet, we could not do enough,” he said. For someone in Ghimire’s position, this was as close to admitting complete failure as you get. The truth is, even in law-making and taking up issues of public concern, the winter session fared awfully. Before the sessions’ commencement, the Ministry of Law, Justice and Parliamentary Affairs had claimed that various ministries were working on as many as 109 bills. But, as things unfolded, the session could clear a paltry three bills. This is troubling as that the winter session is generally devoted to law-making while the budget session, as the name suggests, is mostly aimed at fine-tuning the annual budget. Now, as the government has had to forcefully ended the winter session owing to continued protest of the Nepali Congress, the main opposition, there are doubts over the fate of some vital bills, for instance, those related to the long-delayed transitional justice process, management of employees at the three levels of the federal government, and the impending investment summit.