Opposition parties are set to continue their protests in the House of Representatives, demanding a question-and-answer session with the prime minister.
The decision to continue the protests was made during a meeting of the chief whips from the main opposition party Nepali Congress, CPN-UML, Nepali Communist Party, and Rastriya Prajatantra Party (RPP).
“We will stand and protest during the meeting. If the speaker tries to push ahead forcefully, we will protest strongly,” said Ain Mahar, chief whip of the CPN-UML. “The prime minister must come to Parliament and answer lawmakers’ questions.”
The opposition parties have decided to move forward unitedly for democracy and adherence to parliamentary regulations.
"We are firmly committed to making the executive accountable to Parliament. An understanding has been reached among the opposition parties to move forward together," Mahar added.
The meeting of the chief whips and whips of the four opposition parties was held at the UML parliamentary party office in Singha Durbar.
Rule 56 of the House of Representatives Regulations stipulates that a one-hour question-and-answer session with the prime minister should be conducted on a designated day during the first week of every month. The regulations assign the responsibility of scheduling this session to the speaker.
According to the House regulations, a question-and-answer session should have taken place in the first week of Jestha (mid-May), or the speaker should have set another date.
However, even after Speaker Dol Prasad Aryal personally visited the Prime Minister's Office and urged him to attend Parliament, Prime Minister Balen Shah declined to attend the session.
Prime Minister Shah told Speaker Aryal that he would answer questions in the House of Representatives at an appropriate time.
The next House of Representatives meeting is scheduled for May 26.
