Koshi Province Assembly Meeting Postponed Amidst Budget Dispute

Biratnagar. The Province Assembly meeting has been postponed again due to the inability to resolve the dispute between the ruling and disgruntled lawmakers regarding the Koshi Province budget. The 16th meeting of the ninth session of the Province Assembly, scheduled for 1 PM today, has been postponed and rescheduled for Thursday, Asar 18. According to a notice issued by Sudarshan Khadka, Secretary of the Province Assembly Secretariat, the meeting date has been changed at the government's request.

The meeting scheduled for Thursday, Asar 11, was also postponed citing special reasons and rescheduled for today. However, the political misunderstanding regarding the budget remains, and at the government's insistence, the Speaker has pushed the meeting back by two days.

"The 16th meeting of the ninth session of the Koshi Province Assembly, which was scheduled to convene at 1:00 PM on Tuesday, Asar 16, pursuant to a notice published on Asar 11, 2083, could not be held at the scheduled time at the request of the government... The Speaker has set the meeting for Thursday, Asar 18, 2083, at 1:00 PM," the secretariat stated in a notice issued today.

Disgruntled lawmakers from the ruling coalition and the opposition have been demanding amendments, stating that the budget allocation is unbalanced and was brought unilaterally. Despite discussions between the disgruntled lawmakers and Chief Minister Hikmat Kumar Karki on this issue, no agreement has been reached. According to Himaal Karki, Deputy Leader of the Nepali Congress Parliamentary Party, the disgruntled lawmakers are insisting that the budget be balanced, included in the schedules, and made part of the appropriation bill.

"The Chief Minister proposed bringing the appropriation bill first. We said it's fine to bring the bill, but we insisted that the budget be balanced, included in the schedules, and made part of the appropriation bill. However, the Chief Minister said that adjustments to the budget could be discussed later. We could not agree to his proposal," Karki said.

The Province Assembly meeting has been affected after the disgruntled lawmakers rejected the Chief Minister's proposal. The disgruntled faction has warned of disrupting the parliament if their demands are not met.

"If this issue is not corrected and brought forth, discussions will not proceed. We will stand clearly in opposition. If our demands are not met, even if only one person stands, we will oppose the session," Karki said.

It is understood that the meeting was postponed at the government's request after Chief Minister Karki sought time to find a solution through discussions with all parties.

Meanwhile, former minister and UML lawmaker Buddhi Kumar Rajbhandari has made a sarcastic remark following the postponement of the meeting. "I asked why today's Province Assembly meeting was postponed, and it turns out the ministers were afraid their budget would be wasted, they say," he wrote on social media Facebook.