President Bidya Devi Bhandari has refused to authenticate the Citizenship Bill. President Bhandari has refused to certify the bill for the second time, which has a deadline till Tuesday midnight. Earlier on August 14, the President had sent the bill approved by the House of Representatives for the first time back to the Parliament with a 15-point suggestion for reconsideration.

Later, both the houses endorsed the Bill for the second time without making any changes.

On September 5, Speaker Agni Prasad Sapkota sent bill to the President’s office for authentication. But, the President did not certify the bill within the given time frame. In the meantime, she held consultations with various experts and stakeholders on the bill. President Bhandari had held discussions with former chiefs of Nepal Army, legal experts and senior leaders of all the political parties. Prime Minister Sher Bahadur Deuba had also urged the President to authenticate the bill. Senior leaders of the ruling coalition had also piled pressure on President Bhandari to certify the bill.