House Advances Bills as Lawmakers Challenge Government on Ordinances

Nepal’s House of Representatives has granted unanimous preliminary approval to two key measures: an amendment addressing social security and the rights of women, children, and sexual minorities, and a bill enhancing protections for healthcare workers and medical facilities. Minister Sita Badi and Health Minister Nisha Mehta presented the respective bills, with lawmakers urging safeguards for vulnerable groups' allowances and demanding remedies for patient grievances alongside protections against attacks on medical staff.

Simultaneously, legislators from the Nepali Communist Party and CPN (UML) cautioned that the government might prorogue the session and enact the long-delayed Federal Civil Service Bill by ordinance rather than tabling it in the House. CPN (UML) lawmaker Pushparaj Kandel further challenged the ruling coalition over a May 2 ordinance that had dismissed 1,534 officials across 110 statutes, pointing out that bills have now been brought to restore provisions in 85 of those laws.

Parliamentary decorum has also faced scrutiny amid repeated zero-hour absences. Speaker Dol Prasad Aryal moved proceedings ahead after several registered members failed to appear when called to speak.