Prime Minister Pushpa Kamal Dahal has urged main opposition Nepali Congress to allow Deputy Prime Minister and Home Minister Rabi Lamichhane to speak in Parliament.
PM Dahal sent the message to NC leaders after holding talks with CPN-UML Chairman KP Sharma Oli and Home Minister Lamichhane, who is also the president of Rastriya Swatantra Party, at Baluwatar on Thursday morning.
According to NC Chief Whip Ramesh Lekhak, the prime minister has sent a message urging NC to let Home Minister Lamichhane speak in the House of Representatives meeting on Thursday afternoon and that he is ready to form a parliamentary inquiry committee on the cooperative case.
NC appears flexible to allow Home Minister Lamichhane to speak in the House if a parliamentary probe committee is formed on the cooperative case.
There are also speculations that Home Minister Lamichhane will resign from the post if a parliamentary probe committee is formed.
The home minister told PM Dahal during the meeting held at Baluwatar on Thursday morning that he was ready to pave the way if the prime minister created an environment for him to speak in the House, a minister in the Dahal Cabinet told Setopati.
The home minister said that if a parliamentary probe committee was formed, he would not stay in the post and would pave the way for handover of the ministry’s responsibility to some other minister from RSP, the minister claimed.
But RSP General Secretary Mukul Dhakal and Joint Treasurer Deepak Bohara said that Home Minister Lamichhane has not talked about resigning from the post.
PM Dahal’s Press Advisor Govinda Acharya said that the prime minister urged NC to allow the home minister to speak in the House.
“The prime minister has asked Congress to allow the home minister to speak in the House,” Acharya said. “After the home minister has spoken, discussion will begin on whether a parliamentary probe committee should be formed or not. But there has been no discussion on the home minister’s resignation, which the opposition has not demanded.”
RSP lawmaker Manish Jha said that the party’s lawmakers are holding informal discussions on various options including continuing with the current situation, forming a parliamentary probe committee and giving it 15 days, and whether the home minister should stop going to the Home Ministry, stay in the Prime Minister’s Office in the capacity of deputy prime minister or leave the government.
NC has been obstructing Parliament proceedings demanding formation of a parliamentary probe committee to investigate Home Minister Lamichhane’s alleged involvement in cooperative fraud.
