Prez succumbs to PM pressure, signs citizenship bill

Kathmandu, 31 May: President Ram Chandra Poudel put a seal of approval to the citizenship bill that his predecessor Bidhya Bhandari had withheld assent to.

The presidential approval apparently came in a hush hush manner, more as a deal between him and Prime Minister Pushpa Kamal Dahal, a couple of hours before his official trip to Delhi heading a 88-member delegation. The presidential approval  to the bill in the manner it happened gives credence to earlier speculations that he will do it before his Delhi visit.

Bidhya Devi Bhandari had withheld her assent to the bill despite Parliament approving it twice. Poudel, on his return from Delhi where he had gone for medical treatment, had consulted some legal experts about the status of the bill, but chose to approve it just before the The Prime Minister was to embark on the trip to Delhi.