Officials at the parliament secretariat said even after parliament endorsed the annual budget in September the House session was prolonged with a view to getting three crucial bills endorsed -- a bill on a Truth and Reconciliation Commission (TRC), a bill on a commission on disappearances and a bill on mutual legal assistance which concerns the commitments the government made at international forums against money laundering.[break]
But there has been no progress at all so far over the three proposed bills.
Officials at the parliament secretariat claimed that the government has taken no initiative to advance the bills despite repeated follow-up on the part of the parliament secretariat and the fact that it is the government´s prime responsibility to expedite these bills.
Speaker Subas Nembang said he has repeatedly drawn the attention of the prime minister, other ministers concerned and the chief secretary over the matter.
"These bills haven´t been expedited despite repeated commitments from the prime minister and top leaders of major political parties," Nembang told Republica.
These bills have been under discussion at the bills committee in parliament for years. Key leaders from the major parties have committed themselves to expediting endorsement of the bills and formation of both the commissions on TRC and disappearance, but to no avail.
In the much touted seven-point peace deal also, which was reached among the major political parties on November 2, the leaders said the bills on TRC and disappearances would be endorsed by parliament and these commissions would be formed within a month.
"But extending the parliament session has become meaningless as there is no progress over the bills," said an official at the secretariat.
The ongoing budget session commenced in the first week of May. Usually, the budget session is prorogued during September and the winter session, which is often described as a bills session, is called during January.
The government has also taken no initiative to advance the bill on mutual legal assistance, which was registered at the parliament secretariat months ago, even though the Financial Action Taskforce (FATF), a global body that oversees money laundering issues, has been pressing for endorsement of the bill without delay.
Although parliament amended the money laundering act in the first week of June as per FATF requirements, the global body is still pressing the government to endorse the bill on mutual legal assistance. "Stating that our legal arrangements to check terrorist financing and organized crime are still incomplete, the International Cooperation Review Group of FATF has said it will list our country in the high-risk category in February if we fail to endorse the bill in January," Dharma Raj Sapkota, chief of the financial information unit at Nepal Rastra Bank, told Republica.
According to him, the international group will put Nepal in the negative list if the bill is not endorsed by parliament by June.
"I have drawn the attention of both the prime minister and finance minister to this situation as well but there is no progress in this connection so far," said Nembang.
After placing any country in the high-risk category, FATF tells member states to remain alert while doing any business in that country, and it instructs them to stop doing business with any country in the negative list.
FATF suggests to its member countries to formulate laws on mutual legal assistance with a view to stop terrorist financing and control international organized crime. After adopting mutual legal assistance, member countries can share information and evidence in any crime taking place in any of the member states.
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