When will Nepal and Thakur’s party be registered? This is the process
KATHMANDU: AUGUST 19 – The two new parties, the CPN-UML (Socialist) and the JSP (Democratic), which applied for registration with the Election Commission on Wednesday, will take two to three weeks to get recognition. Legally, the commission has to give a decision within 45 days. However, the two parties will work on the fast track on the application for registration and it will take two to three weeks to work on the fast track, Election Commission officials said.
Both the groups that have applied for party registration have claimed that they have reached 20 per cent of the parliamentary parties or the central committee as per the ordinance. Leader Rajendra Pandey informed that 58 members have joined the Madhav Nepal group from the UML which has a 203-member central committee. According to him, the petition of the CPN-UML (Socialist) with a 95-member central committee has been registered. Leader Pandey also said that 31 MPs elected from the former UML are in the CPN-UML (Socialist).
Similarly, JSP (Democratic) has applied for party registration with a 24-member central committee. Leader Rajendra Mahato said that there were 17 central executive members of the former JSP in the JSP (Democratic). According to him, 14 members of the federal parliament from the former JSP will remain in the JSP (Democratic).
The prevailing law did not allow both groups to register political parties easily. However, they have applied for party registration after the government brought an ordinance to make it easier for them to split.
As soon as the ordinance was issued to make it easier for political parties to split, the UML split and the Madhav Kumar Nepal group applied for the registration of the CPN-UML (Socialist) Party. The Mahanta Thakur faction, which became non-partisan after Upendra Yadav’s party got the authority of the JSP, also filed a tender for the registration of the JSP (Democratic) party as soon as the ordinance was issued.
Article 33 (2) of the Political Parties Act 2073 provides that a party can be recognized only if 40 per cent of the parliamentary parties and the Central Committee are split. However, the government has brought an ordinance to provide a 20 per cent share in one of the parliamentary parties or the central committee. On the recommendation of the government, President Bidhya Devi Bhandari issued an ordinance allowing 20 per cent of the parties to split the parliamentary party or the central committee. After that, UML and JSP split into two.
Otherwise, the way to form a new party is easy. Article 3 of the Political Parties Act, 2073 provides for the formation of political parties. “Persons committed to the same political ideology, philosophy and program may form political parties to conduct their political affairs under the Constitution and this Act,” states Sub-section (1), (2) of Article 3. The program will have to be made public. ‘
Article 4 of the same act provides for the registration of a party with the Election Commission. Subsection (1) of Article 4 states that the party formed should be registered with the Commission.
Why does it take time?
Both groups have applied for party registration. How long does it take for them to get party recognition? We are interested in that. According to Election Commission spokesperson Raj Kumar Shrestha, an application has been filed for the registration of a new party on Wednesday. The commission will start studying the petition on Thursday and Friday. While studying, he will look at the constitution, act, rules, regulations, rules of procedure. It will also look at the federal, state structures and party legislative provisions to be included for party registration.
If all the details are correct, it will move forward. If it needs to be corrected, the Commission will write to the concerned party for correction. The Commission will then be able to identify whether the details obtained for party registration are correct or not, as per the signatures received from the Central Committee members and MPs. “After receiving the application for party registration, the commission will proceed with the necessary process as per the rules and regulations,” said Shrestha. How long will it take for CPN (UML) (Socialist) and JSP (Democratic) to get party recognition? He did not want to say anything about that.
But, according to commission officials, both groups rely on the details they send to get party recognition. “If all goes well, the commission will have to decide within 45 days whether to recognize the party or not.” No, if the details have to be corrected, how long they will be corrected will determine the time, ”said an official of the commission. However, he said that it would not take 45 days. ‘Fast track also works. It takes a definite day to study even when working on the fast track. The coronavirus epidemic takes a few days for the headcount. The decision will be made after the headcount, ‘the official said, adding,’ It takes two to three weeks to work on the fast track. ‘
Eyes also on the Parliament Secretariat
While the CPN-UML (Socialist) is applying to the Election Commission for party registration, many eyes have also turned to the Federal Parliament Secretariat. Although there is no obstacle for party registration, the issue of whether the action taken by the UML against the 14 members of the Madhav Nepal group from Speaker Agniprasa Sapkota will be of great significance politically. If the 14 MPs resign, it will affect the parliamentary arithmetic of the current Sher Bahadur Deuba-led government.
According to the Federal Parliament Secretariat, a letter has been registered on behalf of the UML parliamentary party to dismiss 14 MPs on Tuesday at 4:15 p.m. Secretary-General of the Parliament Secretariat Bharatraj Gautam informed Speaker Sapkota about the letter received on Wednesday. On Wednesday, 14 people, including Madhav Nepal, who had received a letter for action, went to the court saying that they had been taken action illegally.
However, the Parliament Secretariat did not register his letter. ‘There is a provision to inform the parliament about the action taken. There is no provision in the law to stop such action. That is why the letters of 14 MPs, including Madhav Nepal, were not registered, ”said Rojnath Pandey, spokesperson of the Parliament Secretariat. He clarified that there is no legal provision to go to court or send a letter to the Parliament Secretariat if there is any other way.
But, has the Speaker himself acted unconstitutionally or not? Can say or not? What is the legal provision in this regard? When asked, spokesperson Pandey said that it was customary to give a decision within 15 days. “We understand that the speaker must give a decision within 15 days. “There is a way for the concerned parties to go to court if they are not satisfied with what happens,” he said.
