RSP must turn its parliamentary initiative into results

A recent session of Nepal's House of Representatives was adjourned because the minimum required number of lawmakers, 69, were not present, with only 61 in attendance. This incident underscores a recurring problem of lawmaker absenteeism that has plagued legislative bodies in the country.

The Rastriya Swatantra Party (RSP), which holds a significant number of seats, is taking proactive steps to address this issue. The party has mandated its lawmakers to complete a Google Form detailing their attendance and to provide advance notification if they are unable to attend meetings. This measure is intended to foster more organized and effective parliamentary proceedings.

The RSP rose to prominence by campaigning on a platform critical of the perceived ineffectiveness of traditional political parties. Previous Houses of Representatives, elected after the 2015 Constitution, suffered from internal party disputes, dissolutions by Prime Ministers, and prolonged obstructions. For instance, the House elected in 2022 faced weeks of obstruction from the Nepali Congress over allegations against RSP chair Rabi Lamichhane, followed by retaliatory obstructions from the RSP and CPN–UML over different issues.

These legislative bodies often spent more time on government formation and dissolution than on their core functions of enacting laws and conducting substantive discussions. Consequently, many necessary laws for the full implementation of the constitution remained unpromulgated. The RSP's current initiative to monitor lawmaker attendance is seen as a positive step toward ensuring that the current House corrects the shortcomings of its predecessors and functions more productively.