CPN-UML has decided to obstruct House proceedings in presence of lawmakers of CPN (Unified Socialist) claiming they are not lawmakers.
UML had expelled 14 HoR members of the Khanal-Nepal faction including Madhav Kumar Nepal on August 17 accusing them of trying to split the party. The faction subsequently applied for registration of a new party the next day with the Election Commission.
The act about political parties requires the speaker to implement expulsion of lawmakers by issuing notice about expulsion within 15 days. But Speaker Agni Sapkota sat on the letter sent by UML about expulsion of 14 lawmakers including Madhav Kumar Nepal for 13 days and then decided to not implement the decision pointing that the Election Commission has already registered a new party under Nepal.
"House of Representatives and National Assembly regulations do not allow meeting in presence of non-lawmakers," UML Chairman KP Sharma Oli said during the parliamentary party meeting at Baneshwore on Wednesday. "How can the House operate if the persons expelled on August 17, non-lawmakers are present?" he fumed.
He added that Speaker Sapkota should take back the logo of expelled lawmakers. "The House cannot run until the non-lawmakers are sent back from the door."
He also slammed Speaker Sapkota for inconsistency in immediately implementing expulsion of four HoR members by CPN (Maoist Center) who joined UML and then not implementing expulsion of 14 UML HoR members.
He accused Speaker Sapkota of being complicit in the conspiracy to split UML and added that such a person cannot be accepted as speaker. "The person who is cadre of the coalition as cadre of a specific party, and who carried out undignified and illegal act of splitting UML as anti-UML is speaker. How can we attend the House meeting lamely accepting such a person as speaker?"
