The main opposition party, the Nepali Congress, has expressed dissatisfaction after Prime Minister Balen Shah skipped a meeting of the House of Representatives’ State Affairs and Good Governance Committee for the second consecutive time.
The party said that the prime minister, who is also handling the responsibilities of the home minister, should have been present to answer lawmakers’ questions, but remained absent from the meeting.
Following PM Shah’s repeated absence, the Nepali Congress boycotted the committee meeting altogether.
Members of the committee from the Nepali Congress include parliamentary party leader Bhishma Raj Angdembe, chief whip Nishkal Rai, and lawmakers Arjun Narsingh KC and Rekha Kumari Yadav. According to Angdembe’s secretariat, they did not attend the meeting scheduled for Monday at 11 a.m.
Angdembe said that there was no justification for holding the committee meeting in the prime minister’s absence.
“We need to seek answers on issues including landless squatters related to the Home Ministry. Since the prime minister himself is acting as home minister, we will attend if he comes and provides answers. If the prime minister does not come, we will not be present just to meet formally, introduce ourselves, discuss, drink tea and leave,” he said. “We repeated the same position today and remained absent from the meeting.”
Angdembe also said that committee chair Hari Dhakal has been asked to inform them if the prime minister would attend the committee’s meeting.
According to him, they had repeatedly urged Chairman Dhakal to ensure PM Shah's presence in the committee.
