Once consensus eludes on transitional justice, due process will begin: Lekhak

MAHENDRANAGAR: Nepali Congress lawmaker Ramesh Lekhak has said if consensus eludes among political parties on transitional justice, due process will be followed to conclude it.

Lekhak said he was devoted to law making since his first term of House of Representatives (HoR) membership.

He blamed that lawmakers are obsessed more on development of their constituencies than law making. He underscored the need of taking together law making and development agenda.

Lekhak, who is Chief Whip of Nepali Congress, said that he was not able to give time to his constituency after becoming Chief Whip.

According to him, Parliament should make the government accountable, while Parliament should be accountable to the people. But the present government has failed to make Parliament active up to the mark.

The NC Chief Whip admitted that he too had foibles to this end. “Prime Minister Pushpa Kamal Dahal has said he would be active to give business to the Parliament. Let’s see how the running Parliament delivers,” he stated.

Lekhak expressed worry over protracted law making to address transitional justice (TJ). The TJ bill to amend the previous Act has been pending in the Parliament for a long time. It has been 17 years since TJ is on the surface. But we’re entangled in it and yet to sort it out. Although the TJ Act was brought nine years back, the Supreme Court ruled against some provisions in it, rendering the Act ineffective. The commissions on TJ are also non-functional. We’ve been making efforts for consensus, but it is still elusive. If the consensus eludes again, due process would be adopted, he explained.

He informed that the ruling coalition held talks with major opposition CPN-UML in this connection, but they had differing views.

The NC Chief Whip also talked about the geographical difficulty of Sudurpaschim Province. He shared that it is not only distant from the federal capital, Kathmandu, but also allocated a limited budget, thereby facing development confines. Economic and educational indicators need improvement here, he suggested.

Constituency 3 of Kanchanpur district has huge potential, but we have not been able to identify and unlock it. The important places of economic corridors and tourist destinations of India and China are not far from here. Not only this district but entire Nepal can be benefitted from these places after establishing strong links.

“I’ve been raising the issue of the trilateral border since my political career to reap benefits and boost the national economy. In this vein, we stressed construction of a dry port at Dodhara Chandani. An agreement has been made with India for the detailed project report (DPR) for it. Similarly, a four-line motorable bridge over the Mahakali River is being completed soon. The Mahakali corridor to link China is also speeded up,” he informed.

Lekhak is a HoR member elected from constituency 3 of Kanchanpur district representing the Nepali Congress through the general election, 2079. He has been in NC politics for a long.