Discriminatory decision?

Discriminatory decision?

The amendment bill pertaining to citizenship act is due to be finalized in the Parliament for the last two years. Both the ruling party and opposition are trying to amend the act for their own political benefits which has been the main reason for delaying the amendment bill to get passed through the Parliament.

According to Clause 5.1 of the Citizenship Act, foreign women are immediately eligible for citizenship upon marriage to a Nepali man while there are no provisions for a foreign man who marries a Nepali woman, requiring foreign men to spend a minimum of 15 years in Nepal before being eligible to apply for naturalised citizenship.

 

A few days ago,  the parliamentary State Affairs and Good Governance Committee provided the political parties with five days to come to a decision. Keeping this in mind, the Nepal Communist Party’s Secretariat, which has all nine male members, decided that foreign women married to Nepali men would only be eligible for naturalised citizenship after seven years and once they had provided proof of renouncing their earlier citizenship. There was no discussion on the provision for foreign men married to Nepali women. 

 

It will be interesting to see whether the ruling party will continue to flex its two third majority muscle to move forward the bill or try to come to consensus with the other political parties in the Parliament.  

All-male party Secretariat decides on citizenship, an issue that largely concerns women

https://tkpo.st/2CuYyCV