CPN lawmakers from the Kathmandu Valley have met senior leader Madhav Kumar Nepal before meeting Prime Minister (PM) KP Sharma Oli to discuss about the much-disputed guthi bill.
The lawmakers during the meeting held at the parliamentary party office in Singha Durbar Monday afternoon apprised Nepal, who is also a lawmaker from Kathmandu, that there is no alternative to taking back the bill and added that they should put the same views in front of PM Oli.
Nepal said he will also support the stance if all the lawmakers are unanimous on that. "We have reached an agreement that Nepal will lead us and urge PM Oli to withdraw the bill," CPN lawmaker Krishna Lal Maharjan told Setopati after the meeting.
Maharjan said the lawmakers also discussed that the problems about guthis (community trusts) are different in the Valley and outside, and they should be addressed accordingly. "But there is no alternative to withdrawing the bill now. We lawmakers from the Valley reached a conclusion to that regard," he stated.
PM Oli has invited operators of guthis, and elected representatives from the Valley including lawmakers, mayors and a few ward chairmen to discuss about the bill.
Minister for Land Management, Cooperatives and Poverty Alleviation Padma Aryal briefed PM Oli, who had expressed commitment to amend the bill if it were wrong while talking to media persons at the airport upon his arrival, about the bill and the disputed provisions earlier Monday.
Minister Aryal had also held discussion with the operators of guthis and elected representatives from the Kathmandu Valley while Oli was in Europe.
Newar communities in all three districts of the Valley are protesting against the bill registered in the National Assembly complaining that the government is trying to destroy their culture and tradition.
