KATHMANDU, Sept 11: The two major opposition parties in the parliament have warned the government that they will launch protests if the ruling coalition removes Deputy Speaker Indira Rana from her position. They made such remarks after Prime Minister KP Sharma Oli, in a meeting of top leaders of the ruling alliance held at Baluwatar on Monday,  reportedly proposed filing a removal motion against Rana . 

Speaking at a meeting of the House of Representatives (HoR) on Tuesday, leaders from the main opposition party - the Communist Party of Nepal (Maoist Center) and the Rastriya Swatantra Party (RSP) took strong exceptions to the alleged move of the ruling parties – the Nepali Congress (NC) and the CPN-UML – to mount pressure on the Rana to resign. 

“If the media reports that deputy speaker Indira Rana is to be removed are true, our party strongly protests and opposes such an action,” Chief whip of the Maoist Center Hit Raj Pandey said during the parliamentary meeting, “The ruling parties need to clarify whether it is planning to make such a move.” 

Deputy speaker Rana, who was nominated to the parliament by the opposition party RSP under the indigenous category, courted controversy after a letter dated February 26, 2023, was leaked in July in which she requested the US embassy to expedite the visa process for her entourage to the 67th session of the Commission on the Status of Women. 

Leaders from the RSP warned the ruling coalition that the party will bring down the government if it initiates the move for . “Discussions among political parties to remove the deputy speaker over an unsubstantiated claim of abuse of authority are unacceptable in democracy,” Chief whip of the RSP Santosh Pariyar said, “The RSP will bring down the ruling coalition with sheer numbers in the streets if it moves forward with such an undemocratic practice.”

Lawmaker Devendra Paudel of the Maoist Center claimed that some ministers of the sitting cabinet would need to resign first if the ethical standard applied to Rana by the ruling parties is applied to all leaders. “If the deputy speaker has to vacate her post on the basis of allegations, the ruling coalition should remember that a number of sitting ministers have also been alleged of involvement in scandals,” he said, “Will the ministers said to be involved in the Bhutanese refugee scandal, Baluwatar land grab and Giribandhu scandal also tender their resignation?” He claimed that the Maoist Center will stand by the deputy speaker amid mounting pressure from the ruling coalition for  her resignation. 

Former Minister for Information and Communications Gokul Baskota urged Rana to step down from her position citing the example of his own resignation following the leak of a sound clip whereby he demanded a bribe of Rs 700 million. “When the character of such an office-bearer is under doubt, the right way out is to prove innocence by stepping down and providing an explanation,” he said during the meeting. Other lawmakers from the CPN-UML including Surya Prasad Dhakal, Shobha Gyawali, Saraswati Subba also demanded Rana’s resignation, warning that if she does not resign, they will be compelled to remove her for not adhering to the conduct expected of her position. 

The HoR witnessed a heated debate regarding the resignation which has been described as a move from the ruling coalition to find a majority in the constitutional council. Currently, three members of the constitutional council, which makes recommendations for appointment and dismissal of the head of various constitutional bodies, are from the opposition parties. The present council comprises of non-partisan Chief Justice Bishowambhar Prasad Shrestha; Chairperson of the National Assembly Narayan Prasad Dahal and Leader of the main opposition party Pushpa Kamal Dahal from Maoist Center; deputy speaker Rana from the RSP; Speaker of the HoR Dev Raj Ghimire from CPN-UML and the president of the council PM Oli.

 
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