Kathmandu, April 8: Lawmaker Sabitri Malla has underscored on 33 per cent representation of women in the Council of Ministers.
A member of the National Assembly, the upper chamber of the Federal Parliament, she rued that the provision in Article 38 of the Constitution stipulating that ‘women will have the right to participate in all the bodies of the State on the basis of proportional, inclusive principles’, has not been fully implemented.
According to her, this constitutional provision should also apply to the formation of the Council of Ministers. Articles 91 and 92 also need to be amended to make them women-friendly, she pointed out.
Lawmaker Malla said time has also come to fight unitedly for more rights for and the implementation of the existing constitutional rights of women, Dalits, Madhesis, and indigenous communities. The government should formulate and implement a plan to create employment in the country.
Now people are looking for jobs and the government should run closed industries to provide employment to them. The government should be able to sustain the factories that are on the verge of closure,” said lawmaker Malla, who is also the central member of the CPN (Unified Socialist).
The lawmaker who is elected to the upper house from Karnali Province on women quota said: “Karnali Province, which has been left behind by the federal government, should be given priority in the budget. I am taking initiatives on my behalf for the development of this province.
All the honorable people representing this province in parliament should take initiative for the development of the province. It is my dream to work for materializing the motto – ‘Prosperous Karnali, Happy Karnali’.Stating that the Constitution envisages the National Assembly as a permanent legislative body, she said the Constitution itself has pointed out the need for the National Assembly for the establishment and development of an inclusive and democratic system of governance with the participation of the marginalized and endangered communities.
I have been focusing on making laws as per the constitution for a period of one year since becoming a member of the upper house. At the same time, I have been drawing the attention of the government through parliament to the people’s issues,” she said, adding that due to unstable government, not all laws required by the constitution have been enacted.
However, none of the bills tabled in the National Assembly has been held up,” Malla, who is also a member on the Development, Economic Affairs and Good Governance Committee of the National Assembly, shared. According to her, the committee has been working on issues related to Nepal’s economy, public finance, pre-budget discussions, governance reforms and good governance promotion, information technology and innovation.
The committee’s jurisdiction also covers development projects, sustainable development, coordinated and balanced development, investment promotion and population management. Pointing out that the constitution has not been fully implemented due to lack of uniformity and coordination among the local, provincial and federal governments, she stressed on making timely amendment to the main law of the land and on a need basis.
Articles 16 to 46 of the Constitution of Nepal provide for 31 fundamental rights. Some laws under fundamental rights are yet to be enacted. The constitution should be amended timely on the basis of need,” she said. Lawmaker Malla also stressed on the need of enacting an ‘Integrity Policy’ and strictly implementing it in order to further strengthen the federalism.
Referring to the ongoing pro-monarchy movement, lawmaker Malla said: “The Nepali people have made great sacrifices to overthrow the monarchy. The federal democratic republic has come through great sacrifices and struggle of the Nepali people. This is the governance system brought by the people and so it cannot be toppled merely with some monarchists taking to the streets.”
The only alternative of the present republican system is to move forward by further revising and strengthening this federal democratic republic, she asserted. #nepal #political #rss
