In addition to raising their voice in parliament and its committee meetings, lawmakers have also registered a motion of urgent public importance over the matter at the parliament secretariat.
Lawmakers from four political parties registered two separate motions in parliament demanding deliberations on the issue of India's blockade. They raised the issue forcefully after the embargo became a subject of lively debate in the upper house of the Indian parliament (Rajya Sabha) on December 3 and 7.
Shiva Lal Thapa of Janamukti Party Democratic, Laxman Rajbamsi of Nepaa Rastriya Party and Jaydev Joshi of CPN (Samyukta) had registered a joint proposal on December 11.
Similarly, Prem Suwal of Nepal Workers Peasants Party (NWPP) registered a similar motion on December 16, demanding deliberations on the blockade. "But the major political parties and the House speaker have remained reluctant to push forward the motion of urgent public importance and haven't paid any heed to our repeated attempts to pressure them," lawmaker Suwal told Republica.
When asked about this, Speaker Onsari Gharti said that the motion has not been included in House business as it has not been included in the government's own priority. "I have noticed the registered motions and receiving requests from lawmakers for a debate but the government has urged us to give priority to other matters," said Gharti.
According to the parliament secretariat, both motions have been forwarded to the Speaker for further action, but these have not yet been discussed it at the Business Advisory Committee (BAC). "We held informaal discussions about the motions and the concerns of the lawmakers during the BAC meetings. These are necessary also," said Gokul Gharti, chief whip of the ruling CPN-UML. "But the issue could not be discussed in parliament due to the continued protests by the agitating Madhes-based political parties."
The House has been running its business amid continuous sloganeering from Madhes-based parties.
Lawmakers from NWPP and other parties also demanded that the blockade be discussed at meetings of the parliamentary International Relations and Labor Committee. But the committee's chairman, Prabhu Sah, hasn't heeded them, said lawmaker Suwal. "I have been raising the issue at each and every parliamentary forum and deliberation," he said.
The House had decided to form a parliamentary special committee after holding discussions on a similar motion of urgent public importance in the aftermath of the April 25 earthquake.
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