Opposition Whips Meet Speaker Aryal, Raise Concerns Over Parliament's Autonomy

Kathmandu. Opposition party chief whips and whips have met with Speaker Dol Prasad Aryal. In the meeting held at the Speaker's office in Singha Durbar, opposition leaders drew Speaker Aryal's attention, stating that the parliament is being made a puppet of the government. 'An attempt is being made to make the parliament a puppet of the government, like the elephant's show teeth. All work is being done by the executive,' said CPN UML Chief Whip Ain Mahar, adding, 'We have drawn the Speaker's attention to this matter.' He stated that they expressed objection to the Speaker regarding the fact that no time was allocated for speaking in today's meeting and only one day was scheduled for discussion on the policy and program. 'Today we have requested emergency time. If there is no emergency time, we will speak from the opposition's side by taking a 'dhyapdhyaape' time. If time is not given, we will stand up,' Mahar said, indicating that they would not boycott or engage in other activities.