Nepal parties begin process to reinstate Jha as VP: report

The three major parties -- ruling CPN-UML and its key partner Nepali Congress along with main opposition UCPN (Maoist) -- registered a resolution motion at Parliamentary Secretariat to reactivate the defunct vice presidential post after the seventh amendment of the interim constitution.

Jha, a prominent leader from the Terai plains bordering India, has been supported by the parties from the region in the language row. They have urged the CPN-UML-led government to recognise Hindi as the official language and reinstate the Madhesi leader to the post of Vice-president.

Chief whips of the three parties filed a motion to enable Jha to take the oath of office and secrecy in Hindi, the mother tongue of the Madhesi leader, the Kantipur online said today.
Jha had been rendered defunct since August 31 last year after he refused to abide by the Supreme Court order directing him to retake the oath in Nepali language.

The government last month introduced a landmark bill in the 601-member Parliament to enable the President and Vice President to take oath of office and secrecy in their mother tongues, a move to resolve the row over the "unconstitutional" oath by Jha.
The parties drafted the new resolution today amid stepped up pressure from the Terai-based Madhesi parties who have argued that an amendment to the constitution would not guarantee reactivation of the post of VP Jha.