Kathmandu: The House of Representatives has passed the Nepal Citizenship (First Amendment) Bill, 2079.
Speaker of the House of Representatives Agni Prasad Sapkota announced that the Citizenship Bill was passed by a majority after a vote took place on the Bill.
Out of the 195 MPs who were present and took part in the voting, 135 voted in favor of passing the bill while 60 voted in favor of not passing the bill in its current form, while none voted against the bill in itself.
The vote was held after chief whip of the parliamentary party of the main opposition party CPN (UML), Bishal Bhattarai, demanded a division of votes in the House of Representatives on the Citizenship Bill.
It may be noted that the House of Representatives had passed the bill also with a majority on August 1 and submitted it to the President for certification. However, the bill was returned by the President on August 14 for reconsideration of the House of Representatives.
Earlier today, the MPs had expressed their views on Nepal Citizenship (First Amendment) Bill, 2079 at the House of Representatives (HoR).
Lawmakers from the ruling and the opposition parties were divided over the Bill. The Bill was sent back by the President to parliament along with message for reconsideration.
Anil Kumar Jha said that no Nepali citizen should be deprived of the citizenship considering the future of the youth. He said a situation has arisen wherein many youth are on the verge of statelessness as they have not been issued with the citizenship certificate although their parents have Nepali citizenship.
Dr Bhim Bahadur Rawal argued that the President has fulfilled her constitutional duty of safeguarding nationality by returning the bill to the parliament for reconsideration. He said that a sensitive topic like the citizenship cannot be decided upon alone by the ruling coalition but all were agreed that the genuine Nepali citizens should get the citizenship certificate.
Mahesh Basnet opined that there was no problem giving citizenship to the genuine Nepali citizen but it should not be conjectured that a foreigner marrying a Nepali citizen will stay in Nepal after taking the naturalized citizenship.
Tejulal Chaudhary demanded that the parliament should pass the bill as many citizens are facing difficulties in getting admission in colleges for higher studies, travelling abroad and opening bank account in their name as they do not have the citizenship certificate. He however stressed on taking stern action against anyone misusing the citizenship card.
Ganesh Pahadi said that the Citizenship Bill should be passed only after holding extensive discussions in the related parliamentary committee as per the Parliament’s by-laws.
Radha Kumari Gyawali blamed the present coalition government of introducing the bill in such a manner that it betrays the nation and seeking to pass the bill without holding adequate discussions even after the President has returned it to parliament for reconsideration.
Likewise, Pradeep Gyawali said the Citizenship Bill should be passed with national consensus not on the basis of headcount.
Similarly, Min Bahadur Bishwokarma urged the House to pass the bill today recalling what was said about it yesterday.
Krishna Bhakta Pokharel asked to seek minimum consensus in order to pass the bill while Satya Pahadi urged to endorse the bill by forging national consensus after holding equal discussion on all aspects.
Padam Giri blamed that the report prepared by State Affairs Committee after holding discussion while passing the bill earlier was not implemented.
Saying Citizenship Act-2063 would exist if the amended bill is not passed, Yashoda Gurung Subedi pointed out the need of passing the amended bill.
Dr Shiva Maya Tumbahamphe mentioned that the bill should be taken ahead on the basis of national consensus, adding the constitution has provision of providing citizenship to all citizens. Bharat Kumar Sah and Ram Sahay Prasad Yadav expressed their views that the bill should be passed immediately at a time when many Nepali citizens have been compelled to stay statelessness.
Stating that no country accepts that one can get citizenship immediately after marriage, Durga Poudel urged the government to scrap the bill.
Citizens living in the country themselves should protect sovereignty and nationality, said Sher Bahadur Tamang, adding citizenship should be granted to all Nepali citizens.
