Prime Minister Balen Shah is leaving for New York, United States, on Tuesday evening.
PM Shah will lead a high-level Nepali delegation to the 81st session of the United Nations General Assembly.
However, he did not inform Parliament about his foreign trip.
Yet, PM Shah did not even deem it necessary to provide basic information regarding his visit and agenda to the lawmakers who elected him.
Previously, prime ministers used to inform Parliament about the agendas they would raise and their potential meetings before embarking on foreign visits.
For instance, shortly before the Gen Z movement on August 30, 2025, then-prime minister KP Sharma Ali went on a visit to China. Just the day before that, Oli had informed Parliament about his visit.
Extending his best wishes to Oli, Shah – who was then the mayor of Kathmandu – suggested raising the issue of Lipulekh.
"The agreement between India and China to resume trade through Nepal's Lipulekh checkpoint has encroached upon our sovereignty. Do not forget to remind China that it belongs to us," Shah wrote at the time. "We have complete trust in you."
Prime ministers used to inform Parliament before traveling to attend the UN General Assembly as well. Former prime minister Pushpa Kamal Dahal, who served before Oli, had informed Parliament that he was going to attend the 78th session of the UN General Assembly.
At that time, Dahal had stated in Parliament: “Whenever I travel abroad, I have always informed the House and presented the main agendas that I would be taking up.”
Back then, the Rastriya Swatantra Party (RSP) had 21 seats in Parliament. Current Speaker DP Aryal was a lawmaker from the party. In other words, the RSP and Speaker Aryal are well aware of the parliamentary tradition of briefing the house about the prime minister's visits.
However, PM Shah did not deem it necessary to inform Parliament – where his own party holds a majority – about his visit. Meanwhile, RSP lawmaker Shraddha Kunwar wished PM Shah success on his first foreign visit during Tuesday's session itself.
Federal Parliament Secretariat sources said that PM Shah himself showed reluctance to attend Parliament and brief it about the visit.
"The Parliament Secretariat reminded him of the tradition of informing about foreign visits," said a high-ranking source at the secretariat. "However, there was no response from the prime minister's secretariat."
There is no mandatory provision in the House of Representatives Regulations requiring the prime minister to brief the House about visits. However, in Nepal's parliamentary history, speakers have ruled that prime ministers and ministers inform the House about such visits.
On February 25, 1992, then-speaker Daman Nath Dhungana issued a ruling after discussions on a motion of public importance regarding water resources and the Tanakpur Barrage, instructing that further details be provided immediately.
At that time, the motion was tabled by Bharat Mohan Adhikari of the CPN-UML. Immediately following the discussions, the speaker ruled that "His Majesty's Government" provide information on the bilateral understandings reached during the prime minister's visit to India. Back then, there was no practice of issuing rulings directly to the prime minister.
Although PM Shah did not brief about his visit, Foreign Minister Shishir Khanal had informed Parliament about his own visit a few days ago. PM Shah, however, has consistently bypassed Parliament as far as possible.
When the president was presenting the government’s policies and programs in Parliament, he walked out of the meeting. Shah did not attend the House to answer questions during discussions on his own government's policies and programs. He has not responded to questions on any bills introduced in Parliament on his behalf.
There has been no question-and-answer session with PM Shah in the House of Representatives.
After PM Shah avoided participating in question-and-answer sessions according to the House regulations, Speaker Aryal even had to issue a ruling requiring him to attend Parliament and answer questions. However, the question-and-answer session with the prime minister scheduled for August 26 was called off due to the Bhotekoshi flood.
