Parliament Session Adjourned for Five Days Amidst Controversy

Kathmandu. The House of Representatives meeting was adjourned for five days on Jestha 19 due to a tense situation created by Prime Minister Balendra Shah's statement regarding the border.

Opposition parties; Nepali Congress, CPN UML, Nepali Communist Party, Labor Culture Party, and Rastriya Prajatantra Party, obstructed the meeting by continuously surrounding the well without allowing it to proceed to the agenda, after which Speaker Dol Prasad Aryal had adjourned the House of Representatives meeting until Monday, Jestha 24, at 1 PM.

On Jestha 17, Prime Minister Balendra Shah suddenly appeared in the House of Representatives meeting. As the opposition parties were protesting, demanding a question-and-answer session with the Prime Minister as per the provisions in the Rules of Procedure of the House of Representatives, he suddenly went to the meeting of the House of Representatives. The Prime Minister, who sought time from the Speaker himself and went to the rostrum of the House and urged the MPs to ask questions, stated during the process of answering the MPs' questions that 'India's land has also been encroached upon by Nepal'. His view is being strongly protested inside and outside the House. The House became tense due to the opposition surrounding the well and the ruling party resisting.

As the opposition surrounded the well, preventing the meeting from proceeding to the agenda on Jestha 17, 18, and 19, Speaker Aryal had adjourned the parliamentary meeting until Monday, Jestha 25. The meeting he called is tomorrow, but Speaker Aryal has not yet held any formal meeting with the ruling or opposition parties to resolve the dispute. Speaker Aryal, who adjourned the meeting for 5 days to find a solution to the dispute, has not yet made any formal efforts.

Instead, he went to the Far West in the style of a South Indian hero to participate in a program there.

After adjourning the House of Representatives meeting on the 19th, Speaker Aryal managed to attend two programs on Jestha 21. First, he participated in a program organized by the National Dalit Commission at the Nepal Administrative Staff College in Jawalakhel, Lalitpur, on the occasion of the National Day for the Elimination of जातीय भेदभाव तथा छुवाछुत (Caste Discrimination and Untouchability). Then, on the same day, he went to Kavre. He went there to address the 9th District Assembly of the Kavrepalanchok District Coordination Committee and the progress review program for the fiscal year 2082/83.

On the 22nd, he went to participate in the high-level inter-legislative conference organized in Tikapur, Sudurpashchim Province, with the objective of making coordination, cooperation, and parliamentary experience exchange between the two houses of the federal parliament and all seven provincial assemblies more effective. While in Sudurpashchim, Speaker Aryal is currently being criticized for taking a convoy of government vehicles to observe heritage sites and offices in many districts. Aryal is scheduled to return to Kathmandu on Sunday.

Muna Kunwar, the Speaker's chief personal secretary, informed that he went to Dhangadhi on Friday and will return on Sunday.

However, the opposition parties say that Speaker Aryal has not taken any concrete steps to resolve the problem. Bhimraj Angdembe, leader of the main opposition party Nepali Congress parliamentary party, informed that the Speaker has not yet called a meeting to end the deadlock. 'After the House of Representatives meeting was adjourned, he called once on the phone. I was on the way. It didn't go well,' Angdembe told Ratopati. 'He has not called a formal meeting yet. Besides that, leaders of the ruling party have also not held any discussions.'

Kunwar informed that Speaker Aryal is informally discussing with the parliamentary party leaders and chief whips of the ruling and opposition parties to end the deadlock in the House of Representatives. However, Kunwar admits that no formal discussion has taken place. 'Informal discussions are being held with the leaders and chief whips of the ruling and opposition parties regarding ending the parliamentary deadlock,' Kunwar told Ratopati. 'However, no formal meeting has been held. We haven't been able to hold one.'

Khusbu Oli, chief whip of the opposition party Rastriya Prajatantra Party, said that for five days since the adjournment of the House, neither the Speaker nor the ruling party has called for dialogue. She accused that party's needs are being prioritized over national issues, facilitating the ward convention of Rastriya Swatantra Party. 'For the past five days, there has been no call for dialogue. No effort has been made to find a solution,' Oli wrote on social media. 'Rather, the long adjournment of the House has created serious suspicion that party needs are being prioritized over national issues. In the meantime, facilitation has been provided for the ward convention of Rastriya Swatantra Party.'

Oli questioned the justification for adjourning the parliamentary session for such a long time if there was no intention to create an environment for dialogue, find political consensus, and operate the House effectively to end the parliamentary deadlock. 'It has been five days since the House was adjourned. The House is opening tomorrow, but the situation is that the House will operate from the same point of deadlock tomorrow without any achievement. After all, for whom and for what purpose was the House adjourned?' Oli wrote.

As Oli said, Rastriya Swatantra Party, which is currently running a government with a single majority, is busy with its party convention. As MPs of Rastriya Swatantra Party were in districts for their party's district and regional conventions, the meetings of the State Affairs and Good Governance Committee and the Public Accounts Committee called during this period were adjourned without being held. Prakashchandra Pariyar, whip of Rastriya Swatantra Party, responded to Ratopati that he was in the district for the convention and was unaware of the political activities in the capital.

The Federal Parliament Secretariat also stated that no discussions have been held to end the deadlock. Ekram Giri, spokesperson and joint secretary of the secretariat, informed that no formal discussions have been held since Jestha 19 to end the deadlock.

'The Speaker has not held any formal meetings since Jestha 19 to end the deadlock,' spokesperson Giri told Ratopati. 'If there have been meetings between the parties outside, we would not know.'