KATHMANDU, June 6: The Federal Parliament has remained inactive since May 28 as a political deadlock between the ruling and opposition parties over the controversial visa scam is yet to be resolved.
Opposition parties are demanding the formation of a parliamentary inquiry committee to investigate Home Minister Ramesh Lekhak’s alleged involvement in the incident. The ruling coalition, however, has shown reluctance to form such a committee, leading to a prolonged standoff.
Lawmakers from parties including the CPN (Maoist Centre), Rastriya Swatantra Party (RSP), Rastriya Prajatantra Party (RPP), and CPN (Unified Socialist) have declared they will not allow the House to function until their demand is met. This dispute stalled the House meeting scheduled for May 28.
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Although the opposition allowed the government to table the annual budget on May 29, as mandated by the Constitution, they have continued to obstruct all subsequent parliamentary sessions.
The next House meeting was called for June 3, but it could not convene. Similarly, meetings scheduled for June 4 and 5 were also disrupted. Notably, on June 4, the parliament bell was not rung at all. On June 5, although the bell rang after 5 pm, the meeting could not proceed.
When Speaker Devraj Ghimire attempted to begin the proceedings, lawmakers from the opposition stood up, chanted slogans, and staged protests inside the chamber. Following this disruption, the Speaker had rescheduled the meeting for 1 pm today, June 6.
However, by 3 pm, the meeting had yet to begin. While Speaker Ghimire has been in dialogue with opposition parties, consensus remains elusive. The opposition remains firm on its demand, while the government continues to resist forming the probe panel.
As a result, the legislature has remained effectively paralyzed for the past nine days. Detailed deliberations on the national budget are pending, along with discussions on other bills, all of which remain stalled due to the continued disruption of parliamentary proceedings.
