The House of Representatives (HoR) meeting has been deferred till Sunday due to the standoff between the ruling parties and the main opposition CPN-UML over Prime Minister Pushpa Kamal Dahal’s remarks at a recent book launch event.
UML has remained adamant that it will not let the House meeting resume until PM Dahal resigns.
Speaker Dev Raj Ghimire had called a meeting of the Business Advisory Committee at the Singha Durbar on Friday afternoon to end the House obstruction, but the ruling parties and UML could not reach an agreement.
UML has said that there can be no agreement on anything except Dahal’s resignation, while the ruling parties have been saying that the prime minister should be allowed to give clarification in Parliament.
Ghimire proposed at the meeting that the two sides discuss the issue and reach an agreement by Saturday.
“It is not good for bills, especially the one related to loan-sharking, to become inactive when Parliament is obstructed,” Ghimire’s press coordinator Shekhar Adhikari quoted him as saying. “You must arrive at a conclusion. I am ready to facilitate for that.”
The House meeting was then postponed through a notice.
Speaking at a book launch event on Monday, PM Dahal had said that Sardar Pritam Singh had repeatedly visited Delhi to make him prime minister.
UML had obstructed the House meeting on Wednesday demanding Dahal’s resignation over his remarks. Lawmakers from Rastriya Swatantra Party and Rastriya Prajatantra Party had also joined in the protest by rising from their seats.
The bill to replace the ordinance became inactive on Wednesday as it could not be tabled in the HoR due to the obstruction.
