Nepal's President refuses to approve citizenship bill, invites constitutional crisis

Nepal's President Bidya Devi Bhandari refused to ratify the Citizenship Bill. The decision has been taken by the President of Nepal despite a constitutionally bound provision to ratify the bill within 15 days after it is re-approved by both houses.

Lalbabu Yadav, the President's political adviser, confirmed that Bhandari had refused to ratify the bill "to protect the Constitution".

Yadav claimed that Article 61(4) states that the main duty of the President will be to uphold and protect the Constitution. It means protecting all the articles of the constitution. Merely looking at Article 113 it cannot be said that the President has not fulfilled his constitutional responsibility.

However, Article 113(2) of the Constitution, which provides for the certification of bills, states that a bill presented to the President for certification following this article shall be certified within 15 days and shall be passed to both the Houses. It will be informed as soon as possible.

As per the provision, the President is constitutionally bound to certify any bill introduced by the House once it is sent back to the House for reconsideration.

Tuesday midnight was the deadline for the president to ratify that bill, but he did not do so, leaving the country in a constitutional crisis.

Defending the President's actions, the political advisor further said, it (the bill) does not fully comply with the provisions of Part II of the Constitution, discriminates against women, and provides for single federal citizenship with provincial identity. Doesn't either.

President Bhandari on August 14 returned the Citizenship Bill, which was sent to him for authentication after being passed by both the House of Representatives (HoR) and the National Assembly.

He sent a seven-point message to the Federal Parliament for information and deliberation and an eight-point message to draw attention.

A spokesperson of the President's Office, Sagar Acharya, issued a statement saying that President Bhandari has sent the bill back to HOR for reconsideration under Article 113(3) of the Constitution.

Except in the case of a Finance Bill, if the President is satisfied that a Bill is necessary for reconsideration, the Bill may be sent back to that House with the necessary information within 15 days of its receipt, Article 113(3) of the Constitution says about the exception of compulsory certification of bills sent to the President of India. President Bhandari had mainly raised two issues while sending back the Bill.

Article 11(6) of the Constitution states that if a foreign woman wishes to marry a Nepali citizen, she may obtain naturalized citizenship of Nepal as provided in federal law.

President Bhandari had pointed out that the Constitution clearly states federal law but that provision was not there in the bill passed by the national parliament.

President Bhandari, while returning the bill, also questioned the provision of requiring self-declaration by a woman to grant citizenship to her children.

He drew the attention of the House to other issues as well but mainly asked the House to reconsider two issues.

The Bill provides that, a person who was born in Nepal to a Nepali citizen mother and resides in Nepal and whose father has not been identified, he and his mother will have to make a self-declaration that his father could not be recognized. But at the time of applying, if the mother of such person has died or is not mentally stable, the law also provides that the applicant has to make a self-declaration along with the proof. The word 'self-declaration' has been substituted in other sections of the Act.

Similarly, President Bhandari also discussed the issue of naturalized citizenship. They discussed these and other questions about whether naturalized citizenship is a good practice in other countries. How is this for our country? Is this practice good or not?

The President also discussed whether federal laws are required for citizenship as outlined in the Constitution.

Article 11 of the Constitution provides for recognition of the citizenship of Nepal. Article 113 of the Constitution deals with the subject of Bill Verification and Article 114 of the Ordinance.

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