KATHMANDU, Sept 15: A meeting called by the Speaker on the issue of removing the impasse in the House of Representatives (HoR) ended without a conclusion.

Speaker Devraj Ghimire had called the chief whips and whips of major parties to the meeting. In the meeting, Maoist Center's Chief Whip Hitraj Pandey said the decision of their parliamentary party is to continue the obstruction in parliament.

Speaker Ghimire said that he took this decision after reviewing the opinion of the Parliament Secretariat and past practices.

The controversy started when the word "violence," was used by UML MP Yogesh Bhattarai in the parliament meeting held on September 11. After the Maoists protested at that time, Speaker Ghimire ruled that the Parliament Secretariat study the matter.

In the meeting on September 11, the Speaker had announced this decision that the word violence was not unparliamentary. The Maoists have obstructed parliament again. The parliamentary party meeting held on Saturday decided to maintain the obstruction stating that the “Maoist people's war” had been insulted.

The meeting of parliament was summoned at 1 PM on Sunday. In the discussion before that, Speaker Ghimire urged the Maoist Center to consider how just it is not to adhere to the Speaker's rulings.

In response, Maoist Chief Whip Pande said that they would provide a response by 2 PM after internal party discussions. 

 
• Meeting