Parliament Day to be marked commemorating 'Unobstructed House'

The 65th Parliament Day is to be marked on Saturday. The day is marked every year in commemoration of the first sitting of the parliament in Nepal.

Nepal's first parliamentary meeting held on the same day today in 2016 BS, some 65 years ago.

The celebratory event is organized by the Former Parliament Forum Nepal at the New Baneswor-based Parliament Building. Speaker of the House of Representatives (HoR) will feature in the event as a chief guest.

Likewise, the 8th convention of the 'Society of Parliamentary Affairs Journalists' – a common organization of journalists reporting on parliamentary affairs is also taking place in the parliamentary building, Lhotse Hall on the same day.

The International Conference Centre has been used as a parliament building following the election to the Constituent Assembly. A new parliament building is under construction on the premises of Singha Durbar – the main secretariat building of the country.

Nepal's first parliamentary meeting that was called at the auspicious time of 11.45 pm in 2016. However, the meeting commenced at the gallery hall right at 12.00 in the midnight.

In its span of one-and-a-half year, two sessions were held. Though the parliament saw minor altercation in a meeting, its regular business was not disrupted anymore.

The parliament was exemplary from quality and practice perspectives, commented Jagat Nepal, author of 'Pahilo Samsad: BP-Mahendra Takarab (Sangreela Books Pvt Ltd, 2072).

It may be noted that voting for the 109-member parliamentary election had started in 7 Falgun 2015. But, it took two-and-a-half months to publish the final results of the vote count. The results of parliamentary election vote count were unveiled in 21 Baisakh 2016. The first parliamentary meeting was called on Asadh same year.

According to the results, Nepali Congress emerged the largest party with two-third majority winning 74 parliamentary seats. Likewise, Nepal Rastrabadi Gorkha Parishad secured 19 seats, Samyukta Prajatantrik Party Nepal five, Nepal Communist Party four, Nepal Praja Parishad (Acharya) two, Nepal Praja Parishad (Mishra) one and independent candidates won four seats.

The parliamentary system was strangulated in 2017 BS no sooner it passed through a novice 18 months. With the then King Mahendra took over the first-elected government and dissolved the parliamentary system, the country ushered into party-less Panchayati system.

Democracy was reinstated in 2046 BS on the backing of the People's Movement. The parliamentary revival was made in the name of the House of Representatives and National Assembly.

Though the Interim Constitution of Nepal, 2063 named the parliament as 'Legislature-Parliament', it was transformed into the bicameral 'federal parliament' with the HoR and National Assembly.

Under the federal parliament, the HoR comprises 275 members from first-past-the-post electoral and proportional representation category while the National Assembly comprises 59 members, including those elected and nominated by the President.

The parliamentary members have been representing the diverse Nepali society and the people's mandate on the basis of the proportional and inclusive principles. ---