NC launches nationwide awareness campaign to expose govt 'wrongdoings', strengthen internal unity

KATHMANDU, May 9: Criticizing his controversial role in parliament, the main opposition party Nepali Congress has alleged that Speaker of the House of Representatives Krishna Bahadur Mahara is the weakest House speaker that Nepal has seen.

Addressing a function organized in the capital by the party Wednesday to launch its Nationwide Awareness Campaign , Nepali Congress (NC) President Sher Bahadur Deuba alleged that Speaker Mahara was unable to delete non-parliamentary language used by Prime Minister K P Sharma Oli on Tuesday even though the NC had repeatedly demanded such deletion . Deuba argued that Mahara had failed to do so as he had become a shadow of the executive.

Deuba claimed that he had never seen such a weak and cowardly speaker in the parliamentary history of Nepal. NC lawmakers had staged protests in parliament when Prime Minister Oli used demeaning words to refer to questions raised by NC lawmakers on the government's Policies and Programs .

Deuba vented his ire against the speaker for failing to delete demeaning words from the record despite repeated requests. He argued that the failure of the speaker to act even though the prime minister used such unbecoming language was proof that he was the weakest speaker in Nepal's parliamentary history.

On the occasion, Deuba also warned Prime Minister Oli not to speak wantonly against the main opposition party. He argued that the ceremonial head of state had acted like an executive head because of the communist government .

According to NC leaders, the awareness campaign to be organized in three different phases is aimed at strengthening the party organization and exposing the wrongdoings of the government . The main opposition party has launched the nationwide campaign setting aside its internal differences for the first time since its humiliating defeat in parliamentary and provincial assembly elections.

NC, which organized public rallies in all districts across the country Tuesday, has decided to direct its fire against the current government. The party is out to make the public aware about wrongdoings, corruption and other irregularities carried out by the government such as in the procurement of widebody aircraft and the move to revoke the decision of the then NC-led government on the Budhi Gandaki hydropower project.

The NC deployed its central level leaders to all districts for the campaign . Speaking at the function organized to launch the campaign in Kathmandu, central representative of the party Bal Krishna Khand, who is also NC chief whip, said Prime Minister Oli had created history in a sense by using non-parliamentary language in parliament.

Alleging that the current government was bent on weakening the new constitution, Khand asked whether the opposition parties were allowed to raise the questions of the people in parliament. On the occasion, he expressed confidence that the awareness campaign would inject new life into the party.

Also speaking on the occasion, senior leader Prakash Man Singh criticized the party leadership for failing to ensure internal democracy within the party. He vented ire against the party's leadership for running the party in an autocratic manner, without heeding the the suggestions of rival factions within it.

 
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