Kathmandu, July 27
Almost after every election in Nepal, political parties claim the polls have been rigged by ruling or other parties. They demand parliamentary investigations into the alleged rigging and obstruct the House proceedings. Consequently, the House forms panels to investigate.
But, the committees most of the times do not submit reports.
After the second Constituent Assembly elections in 2013, the then Unified CPN-Maoist and Madhesh-centric parties claimed the polls were rigged and demanded that the House form a panel to investigate.
Consequently, the House formed a committee with a mandate to submit the report within three months, but it is yet to present its report as more than three years have passed.
In the first phase of local level elections in May this year, the main opposition CPN-UML accused ruling parties of rigging. As other times, the House formed a committee.
The committee, however, has not been able to hold a single meeting yet. The committee was mandated to submit its report in three months, and the second month is going to finish very soon.
Furthermore, the panel is yet to choose its chairperson and finalise its working procedure.
It seems the committees are formed for face-saving for certain parties and removing obstructions in Parliament, but as the time goes on, the parties demanding investigations forget the issue entirely.