Political Parties In Nepal To Become "responsible, Transparent And Inclusive"

March 29, 2007 - PRLog -- New Delhi, 28th March, 2007.
In a revolutionary move to make political parties of Nepal "responsible, transparent and inclusive", a bill has been moved in the interim Parliament of Nepal which would also make it illegal for political parties to declare" bandhs", and prohibit them from calling strikes that would impact national economy.

The bill, tabled on Friday, March 2, also attempts to introduce the concept of State funding of political parties on the one hand and prohibit them from receiving grants or donations from national and international organizations, foreign governments and any individual as well.

The bill was moved by Minister of State for Labour,  Ramesh Lekhak on behalf of Home Minister Krishna Prasad Sitaula.   This landmark Bill, if passed by the House, will be a path breaker one for the country which might soon be declared a republic and not only is similar to various decisions taken in India by the courts --but not necessarily forming part of the Constitution – which in India at least are observed more in their breach.

The bill seeks to prohibit wall-paintings, pasting and graffiti-writing by parties on private properties without the consent of the owners. They are also being asked not to vandalise public or private properties when organizing their programmes. All these actives would be deemed to be illegal.

Regarding State funding of parties, it has been proposed that the State provides grant to the parties based on the number of votes they obtain in elections. Parties which poll at least one per cent of the valid votes in the national elections would be granted proportional volumes of resources.

The bill also prohibits the political parties from enlisting corrupt persons, black-listed defaulters and those declared bankrupt by the courts as their members. It asks parties to make their executives committees inclusive and properly keep and regularly publicise the assets of their office-bearers.

For a new political party to be registered with the Election Commission, (other than the parties represented in the Interim Parliament), signatures of at least 10,000 individuals would be necessary. The parties will be asked to audit their financial transactions and present the reports to the Election Commission within six months of the completion of fiscal year. The Commission may impose fines on the parties which do not abide by this provision.

Meanwhile, ahead of the elections for the Constituent Assembly before the advent of the monsoon in late June, the State Affairs Committee discussed various election-related bills.   These include the bill on the election Commission, Election (Crime and Punishment) Bill, and her bill on Constituent Assembly court. About 73 amendments were moved with respect to these bills.   The meeting attended by the Chief
Election Commissioner Dr. Bhoj Raj Pokharel, who appealed to all to ensure the autonomy of the Election Commission?  It was decided to finalise the decisions on the election-related bills early.

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