Parliament will be back with little on its plate

Nepal's federal parliament is set to reconvene on Thursday after a two-week recess, but lawmakers face a nearly empty legislative agenda. Opposition parties have voiced strong criticism, arguing the government has failed to provide adequate business for the House of Representatives and the National Assembly.

The House of Representatives will resume its session on Thursday, followed by the National Assembly a day later. However, both chambers have very little legislative work. The lower house has only eight bills under consideration, while the upper house has no legislation awaiting review. Parliament adjourned on July 15 after the national budget was approved, with a recess announced until July 30 and July 31 for the respective houses.

Opposition parties contend that the recess was largely necessitated by the government's inability to prepare and present bills for discussion. According to the Parliament Secretariat, only four bills are actively pending in the 275-member House of Representatives. Several other bills passed by the National Assembly are currently being reviewed by committees in the lower house.

The situation in the 59-member National Assembly is even more limited, as it has already cleared all bills sent to it and forwarded them to the House of Representatives. Basana Thapa, chief whip of the main opposition Nepali Congress, stated, "The government has failed to provide business to the House. This is a clear weakness on their part." She dismissed the government's explanation for the recess, arguing that parliament was effectively suspended due to the cabinet's lack of readiness with new legislation.

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The government has failed to provide business to the House. This is a clear weakness on their part.