President’s interest in Citizenship Bill, discussed with PM

KATHMANDU: President Bidya Devi Bhandari and Prime Minister Sher Bahadur Deuba met on Saturday evening.

President Bhandari and Prime Minister Deuba met at the Presidential Office Sheetal Niwas to discuss the Citizenship Bill.

President Bhandari is said to be interested in some of the provisions contained in the Citizenship Bill. President Bhandari met with Minister of Law, Justice, and Parliamentary Affairs Govind Koirala and Attorney General Kham Bahadur Khati before meeting with Prime Minister Deuba. She also brought information about the Citizenship Bill to that meeting.

Following debate, the House of Representatives passed the Citizenship Act Amendment Bill presented by the government on July 23.

Similarly, the bill was approved by the National Assembly on July 28. On July 31, Speaker Agni Prasad Sapkota forwarded the bill to the President’s office for verification. Other than finance bills, the President has a 15-day deadline to consider them.

There is a constitutional provision in Article 113 of the Nepalese Constitution, sub-paragraph (3), that if the President believes it is necessary to reconsider the bill submitted for verification (except for the meaning), he can send the bill back to the House of origin with a message on the date of submission of the bill.

If the President returns a bill with a message, the Constitution requires that both houses reconsider the bill.