Parliamentary Opposition Weak, Small Parties Raise Strong Voices

Kathmandu. Looking at the arithmetic of the House of Representatives, the Rastriya Swatantra Party has become the largest party with nearly a two-thirds majority, while the Nepali Congress is the second largest party. The Congress is also the main opposition party in the parliament.< /p>

In the opposition bloc, the CPN-UML and the Nepali Communist Party (CPN) are the second and third largest parties after Congress. After that, the Shram Sanskriti Party and the Rastriya Prajatantra Party are also in the opposition bloc.< /p>

All parties in the House of Representatives except the Rastriya Swatantra Party are in the opposition bloc. However, except for the Shram Sanskriti Party, other parties in the parliament have not been able to be heard strongly as opposition.< /p>

During the meeting of the current session of the House of Representatives from Jestha 4 to 7, the Shram Sanskriti Party has been protesting by showing placards inside the house. The party's MPs protested by standing up from their seats as soon as the session began, stating that the Prime Minister was not accountable and responsible to the parliament, and the Speaker Dol Prasad Aryal warned them. Even then, the MPs of the Shram Sanskriti Party continued their protest.< /p>

In Thursday's meeting, Harkaraj Rai (Sampang), who is also the chairman of the Shram Sanskriti Party, suggested that Prime Minister Balen Shah should step aside if he is unable to fulfill his duties.< /p>

After standing up from his seat and showing placards as soon as the meeting began, Speaker Aryal gave Rai time to speak. Rai stated that although the parliamentary operating rules stipulate that the concerned minister must reply to the questions raised by the MPs within 7 days, they have not yet received answers to the questions raised on Jestha 28.< /p>

He said that since the Home and Defense Ministries are held by Prime Minister Shah, Prime Minister Shah himself should come to the House of Representatives and answer the questions raised by them regarding the Lipulekh border and security.< /p>

While the Shram Sanskriti Party is cornering the government, the main opposition party Congress, and other opposition parties UML and CPN seem to be overshadowed in the parliament. They have also abandoned the issues they themselves raised before reaching a conclusion. However, on Thursday, other opposition parties also chanted slogans in the meeting of the House of Representatives.< /p>

In the Constitutional Council meeting on Jestha 24, when a decision was made regarding the Chief Justice, the leader of the main opposition party and the leader of the Nepali Congress parliamentary party, Bhishma Raj Angdembe, had expressed a 'written disagreement'. Angdembe had expressed a written disagreement, stating that the tradition of 80 years of judicial history was broken by recommending Dr. Manoj Sharma, the fourth-ranked judge of the Supreme Court, as the Chief Justice.< /p>

Not only Angdembe in the Constitutional Council's decision, but also the Chairman of the National Assembly, Narayan Prasad Dahal, expressed a 'written disagreement'. Dahal was nominated as a member of the National Assembly by the President from the quota of the then CPN (Maoist Centre).< /p>

In this sense, some had speculated that written disagreements would come from the Nepali Congress and the Nepal Communist Party during the parliamentary hearing of the proposed Chief Justice. In the meeting of the Parliamentary Hearing Committee on Jestha 5, although the MPs from Congress, UML, and CPN expressed disagreement with the hearing process, they reached a consensus on the Chief Justice, providing ease to the ruling party.< /p>

In the Parliamentary Hearing Committee, besides Angdembe, who is also a member of the Constitutional Council from Congress, Arjun Narsingh KC and Anand Prasad Dhungana are members. Angdembe and KC did not attend the committee meeting, but Dhungana did not express any written or oral disagreement.< /p>

'We did not express any written or oral disagreement when the decision was to be made after the hearing of the Chief Justice,' Dhungana told Ratopati. 'In the parliament, when the Speaker makes a decision on an issue, they ask those who agree to say yes, and those who disagree to say no. The opposition does not speak. The ruling party speaks loudly, and then they say it was passed unanimously because the voice of those who disagreed was not heard, and that's what happened.'< /p>

MPs from UML and CPN also did not express any disagreement with the decision of the hearing committee. Padma Aryal and Prem Prasad Dangal are members from UML, and Barshaman Pun and Narbahadur Bist are members from CPN.< /p>

Opposition's Role Weak in Parliament

Congress Chief Whip Nishkal Rai said on Thursday that the Speaker did not support the opposition in the House of Representatives meeting and the government did not listen.< /p>

'For the past few meetings, the opposition parties have been trying to make the government accountable,' Rai said. 'As the main opposition party, I myself and other honorable members have repeatedly tried to make the government accountable to the parliament by standing up on issues like searching for the Prime Minister to respond to the policy and program. In this, we did not get the support of the honorable Speaker, and the government did not listen.'< /p>

In Thursday's meeting, the opposition collectively stood up and adjourned the meeting for 15 minutes, citing the absence of the 'Question and Answer with the Prime Minister by MPs' program as per Rule 56 of the House of Representatives Regulations. Rule 56 mentions that the Prime Minister will have a one-hour question and answer session with MPs in the first week of each month.< /p>

However, on Thursday, amidst the protests by the Shram Sanskriti Party and other opposition parties, Speaker Aryal allowed the government to proceed with the parliamentary proceedings. While the MPs of the Shram Sanskriti Party were protesting by standing from their seats, the Speaker allowed the government to propose consideration of three bills. After that, the MPs of the Shram Sanskriti Party boycotted the meeting.< /p>

Former Secretary of the National Assembly, Rajendra Phuyal, believes that the main opposition and opposition parties with large numbers cannot be strong opposition because they have previously been part of the ruling party. 'The main opposition party should be the strongest, but since they have been part of the ruling party before, they do not fit well as opposition,' he said.< /p>

He said that the voice of the opposition gradually weakens due to the fear that if they are strong, the questions will be directed at them.< /p>

Phuyal suggests that if the major parties have a system of recruitment and retirement based on ideological arrangements, the voice of the main opposition and opposition will be strong. 'Political parties must have a system of recruitment and retirement based on ideological arrangements. Internal democracy within the party must be strengthened,' Aryal said. 'Then the party will not become old. The voice will become stronger. Currently, with these issues not resolved, parties with large numbers in constructive mathematics have not been able to be in opposition.'< /p>

In the Past Too, Small Parties Raised Strong Voices

Looking at parliamentary history, there are various examples where small parties have been stronger compared to large opposition parties. After the 1991 elections, when the Nepali Congress secured a single majority, the CPN-UML was the main opposition. However, the MPs of the Rastriya Janamorcha and Masal were heard strongly against the government's wrongdoings at that time. In 1994, after the mid-term elections, the UML became the largest party in the House of Representatives but could not secure a majority. The second largest party was Congress. From the UML's minority government to the formation of coalition governments, UML and Congress were at opposite poles. However, Janamorcha was heard strongly in parliament.< /p>

In the first Constituent Assembly elections of 2008, Maoists became the first party. While Congress and UML should have raised strong voices there, the MPs of the Nepal Majdoor Kisan Party, despite their small numbers, raised strong voices.< /p>

In 2013, Congress and in 2017, UML became the largest party. During the same parliamentary term, UML and Maoists merged to form the CPN. Even then, Majdoor Kisan Party was seen as strong against the government's wrongdoings. In the 2022 House of Representatives elections, the Rastriya Swatantra Party led by Ravi Lamichhane reached parliament for the first time. At that time, the Rastriya Swatantra Party had a small number, but its MPs strongly raised their voices against the government's irregular actions.< /p>

Currently, despite being small in number, the Shram Sanskriti Party led by Harkaraj Rai is raising a strong voice in the parliament.< /p>