House stalled second time in less than a week

NC-RJPN picket rostrum

House stalled second time in less than a week

Published On: July 31, 2019 12:35 PM NPT By: Santosh Ghimire | @journonepali

Photo: Republica

KATHMANDU, July 31: The Parliament session was adjourned on Wednesday following the obstruction of the House Proceedings.

The meeting has been postponed until 2 pm on Thursday after parliamentarians representing the opposition parties Nepali Congress and Rastriya Janata Party-Nepal stalled HOR proceedings demanding a probe into various murder incidents.

This is the second time the House session has been postponed in less than a week due to the opposition parties' protest.

Lawmakers representing Nepali Congress and Rastriya Janata Party-Nepal stood up as soon as the House session began at 11 am on Tuesday.

Then the parliamentarians picketed the rostrum chanting slogans against the government for an hour. Amid hullaballoo, Speaker Krishna Bahadur Mahara tried to continue the House proceedings by convincing them not to disrupt the House. He said he had already notified the government of the matter several times.

"I urge you all to respect parliamentary supremacy," he told the lawmakers.

Despite his frequent request, the NC and RJP-N parliamentarians swarmed the well of the House.

The MPs urged the government to investigate the killing of Kumar Poudel, the then Sarlahi in-charge of outlawed Netra Bikram Chand-led Nepal Communist Party.

As the parliamentarians continued to picket the rostrum, Speaker Mahara put off the session.

Lawmakers from both the parties have accused the police of killing Poudel in the name of exchange of fire.

They also demanded action against those involved in the rape and murder of 13-year-old Nirmala Pant in Kanchanpur last year.

While NCP leader Poudel was allegedly killed during an encounter with the police on June 20.

The two opposition parties have been disrupting the House proceedings since July 9.

However, they agreed to resume the parliament session following the registration of an urgent public importance motion at the Parliament Secretariat to discuss the aftermath of the floods and landslides across the country.