Political difference delayed citizenship bill: Minister Thapa

Kathmandu / June 25: Home Minister Ram Bahadur Thapa has said that the government could not move the citizenship bill further for the endorsement from the house due to the lack of political consensus.

Responding to the queries raised by lawmaker Nawaraj Silwal in the meeting of State Affairs and Good Governance Committee under federal parliament on Tuesday, Minister Thapa maintained that he sought the consensus among the political parties for the bill in the parliament. However, the political parties failed to mitigate their political differences, he asserted.

As the citizenship bill is a critical issue, for which there has been a long delay for the endorsement, he added. Meanwhile, Minister Thapa also informed the house committee that due to lack of consent among the political parties, there has been delayed in presenting the police employee adjustment bill as well.

The committee had formed a nine-member sub-committee on March 21 to complete the remaining task of Nepal Citizenship Bill, especially with regard to obtaining naturalized citizenship certificate. However, the sub-committee failed to reach the consensus among the political forces.