KATHMANDU, Nov 12: Lawmakers have insisted on the unity of all major political parties for removing the suspended chief of the Commission for Investigation of Abuse of Authority (CIAA) Lokman Singh Karki through the impeachment motion.
Taking part in deliberations in Parliament on the impeachment motion against Karki filed by 157 lawmakers last month, the lawmakers have urged all major political parties to come together on the issue. Parliament resumed deliberations on the impeachment motion Friday after a pause of more than two weeks.
Out of the 51 lawmakers registering their names for participation in deliberations, 13 have already expressed their views. The remaining 38 lawmakers are now in the process of putting forth their views.
Nepali Congress (NC) lawmaker Dhan Raj Gurung said that all political parties represented in Parliament should unite without looking upon the proposal as that of any particular party. “Though we have put things in place for ousting Karki from his post, the motion could not be endorsed without support from the NC,” Gurung said. “All the political parties in Parliament should come together to endorse the motion as this is the agenda of all the people.” NC is yet to decide whether or not to vote in favor of the impeachment motion.
Lawmaker Gurung further said that Parliament has before it enough evidence of Karki breaching his constitutional jurisdiction and going against the ethics of his post.
CPN-UML lawmaker Purushottam Paudel said that the NC should vote for the impeachment motion for the sake of democracy. “NC must vote for the impeachment motion as Parliament shouldn't remain a mute spectator while the head of a constitutional body goes about flouting the law,” said Paudel.
Shiva Chandra Chaudhary of CPN (Marxist-Leninist) said that Parliament should set a precedent of punishing wrongdoers and putting them in their place. “The impeachment motion must alert people in such vital posts against any wrong tendencies in future,” said Chaudhary.
Chitra Bahadur KC of Rastriya Janamorcha said that the lawmakers will prove themselves worthless if the House fails to endorse the impeachment motion.
As all lawmakers wishing to speak in the deliberations have not had their chance, the House has decided to continue the deliberations on November 14.