People Not Well-Informed on Lawmakers' Role

CPN (Maoist Centre) leader Urmila Majhi has said that the people are not well-informed on the primary role of the lawmakers representing in the Federal Parliament – law-making or development.

She said the lawmakers themselves have also not explained to their electorate about the role and responsibilities of a Member of Parliament. In her view, law-making is the primary duty of an MP, but matters related to the development and construction of their electoral constituencies also come under their responsibility, as they have 'promised' the same during the election campaigns.

 "We do not have the excuse to become irresponsible in addressing the problems of our election constituency and the voices of the electorate once we get elected the MP. Both topics- lawmaking and development-construction in one's constituency – should be taken ahead simultaneously.

However, it is up to an individual lawmaker to choose one among the two as their main responsibility," lawmaker Majhi said.

She said that as a lawmaker she has been fulfilling her role actively, taking part in the parliamentary deliberations on bills and drawing the government's attention on the burning problems of the people. As she shared, the last one year's period has been a 'learning and experience-gaining' time in her case.

She acknowledged the public criticism that the present parliament was found wanting when it came to passing bills and making the government accountable on various pertinent matters. Majhi said this is because of the mentality of the ruling and opposition parties and the numbers of MPs a particular political party has in parliament.

"Looking at the number of bills passed, there is public complaint that the lawmakers are not playing their role effectively, but we should not forget that important bills such as the Citizenship Bill and Finance Bill which were stalled for long have been passed," she said.

Majhi, who was associated with the All Nepal National Revolutionary Students Organization in 1996, has the experience of working as the Area In-charge and the full member of the Maoist party during the decade-long armed conflict waged by the party.

She was elected to the House of Representatives from the proportional representation quota in 2079 BS. She is also the general-secretary of the Majhi Liberation Front, an organisation affiliated to the Maoist Centre.

Majhi stressed that the parliamentarians should be one when it comes to 'issues of public concern', forgetting whether they belonged to the ruling party or the opposition party. Stating it is lack of comprehension on the part of lawmakers about their responsibility that several parliament sessions and meetings of the parliamentary committees have to be adjourned due to the lack of a quorum, she stressed that this situation should never be allowed to result.

Majhi shared that she found new faces among the parliamentarians who presented themselves in a disciplined and restrained manner in parliamentary deliberations.

The ruling side, opposition sides and lawmakers should have one voice on matters related to prevention and control of corruption, maintaining good governance and providing services to the general public in a smooth and easy manner, she stressed.

Lawmaker Majhi also demanded that the government should hear the parliamentarians' voices and heed to the directives issued by the parliamentary committees.

She underscored the need of creating employment opportunities within the country itself to stop the large exodus of youth and students to foreign countries for employment. "If this trend is not addressed by making long-term policy, the situation might spiral out of control and create a formidable challenge for the nation in future," she warned and called on all sides to be serious in this. ---