Winter session of parliament prorogued in Nepal, budget session to start next month

Kathmandu : Nepal’s acting President Ram Sahaya Prasad Yadav prorogued the ongoing winter session of the Federal Parliament past midnight on Friday.The acting President made the decision in accordance with Article 93 (2) of the Constitution of Nepal 2072 on the recommendation of the Council of Ministers.

Yadav on Friday evening, sent a letter to House Speaker Dev Raj Ghimire stating that sessions of both the upper and lower house will be prorogued past midnight on Friday.

As per the Constitution of Nepal, the President, on the recommendation of the government, summons and prorogues the sessions of the federal parliament. Acting President Yadav ended the session as President Ramchandra Paudel is currently undergoing treatment in India.

The current session of the House of Representatives that began on January 25 was the first session after last year’s polls.

The ongoing session has been prorogued as the government is running short of time to begin the budget session. The government has to manage the presentation of the government’s policies and programs, pre-budget discussions, and budget tabling by May 29. As per the constitution, the annual budget must be tabled in the Parliament on Jeth 15 [May 29 this year].

An official at the Parliament Secretariat said the budget session must commence latest by May 8 to complete the preparatory works before the fiscal budget for 2023-24 is presented. Rule 145 of the House regulations says pre-budget discussions must be completed 15 days ahead of the budget presentation.