The House of Representatives has approved the Bill concerning transitional justice.
In Wednesday’s session, Law, Justice, and Parliamentary Affairs Minister Ajay Kumar Chaurasiya presented the proposal for the ‘Investigation of Enforced Disappeared Persons, Truth and Reconciliation Commission (Third Amendment), 2081’. A majority vote passed the Bill.
On Wednesday, the House endorsed the amendment to the Enforced Disappearances Enquiry, Truth and Reconciliation Commission (Third Amendment) Act 2024. Following discussions on the bill, Speaker Devraj Ghimire called for a vote, which led to its approval by voice vote.
Bimala Subedi, chair of the Law, Justice, and Human Rights Committee, presented a report on the Bill to the parliament on Tuesday. The committee unanimously endorsed the Bill on August 8 after over a year of deliberation.
Lawmakers, including senior leaders from the ruling CPN-UML, Nepali Congress, and the main opposition party CPN (Maoist Centre), praised the Bill during Wednesday’s lower house meeting. They expressed optimism that it would be pivotal in concluding the peace process initiated on November 16, 2006, by the then CPN (Maoist) and seven mainstream political parties.
A three-party panel was formed to address disagreements over the amendment to the Enforced Disappearances Enquiry, Truth and Reconciliation Commission Act. The panel submitted its report to top leaders on August 14.
After nearly two decades of stalemate on TRC issues, major parties — Congress, UML, and Maoist Centre — established a task force comprising Ramesh Lekhak from Congress, Janardan Sharma from Maoist Centre, and Mahesh Bartaula from UML to resolve the disputes.
On August 1, the panel reached a consensus on contentious issues, paving the way for the federal Parliament to endorse the amendment. Subsequently, the panel led by Lekhak submitted the report to Prime Minister and UML Chair KP Sharma Oli, Congress President Sher Bahadur Deuba, and Maoist Centre Chairman Pushpa Kamal Dahal “Prachanda”.
