Parliament-norms

Since the current parliament – the House of Representatives –is completing its five year – tenure in year-end, parliamentarians should make the best use of the time available to the highest representative body of the country. All those who believe in democracy and values it embraces regard parliamentary time as very precious. Some members of some parliament in the world develop tenure-wise schedule of the parliament and they use every working day and hour of the body in a significant way. The job of formulating laws for the country is a great task of responsibility and honour. Not even one hour of the law making institution should be lost or wasted because loss or squander of parliament time means adverse impact on the regime of laws in one way or another. The standard could be termed too high. But it is something achievable if Nepali parliamentarians and their parties develop political will to use the floor of the House wisely and with a sense of accountability towards the people who elected them. History shows not a promising backdrop of Nepali parliament from the standpoint of utilizing time to the optimum time possible. This should however not suggest that the current parliamentarians should not be that conscious of time in parliament. They have a great opportunity to demonstrate that they could made a difference this time in 2022. They could contribute by clarifying through laws whether the House of Representatives ends its tenure as soon as the date for the fresh election is determined and announced. They could also spell out conditions for fixed term parliamentary life irrespective of decision on new dates for elections. A number of bills –some of them very essential and important politically, socially and financially – are awaiting approval in the parliamentary floor. Parliamentarians could take a lead on finalizing as many bills as possible in the remaining time of present parliament. The issue – whether to impeach the top justice of Supreme Court or not – is the most pressing one before the House. The parliament should speak out clearly about it for it carries meaning for future of separation of power, justice delivery and democratic practices in the country. How parliamentarians utilize the time of the House in the next few months could also have impact on their reelection or loss in the forthcoming polls.