KATHMANDU, March 2: The ruling coalition members have said they feel ashamed of the prolonged House obstruction.
Talking to media following a meeting of the House of Representatives (HoR) on Wednesday, they argued that it was wrong to continue with obstructions violating the legal provision that prevents the House from discussing any issue sub-judice at the court.
CPN (Unified Socialist) Chair and former Prime Minister Madhav Kumar Nepal urged the people concerned to exercise conscience and let the House carry forward its business. He was referring to the main opposition CPN-UML which has been protesting in parliament for long demanding the resignation of the Speaker and disqualification of the 14 lawmakers from the CPN (Unified Socialist) as the HoR members.
“This has provided a ground to raise a question about the commitments to democracy, leading to the degradation of the image of the protesting party,” he said, claiming that the move would prove costly for the party in the upcoming elections.
Speaker calls meeting with chief whips to remove House obstruct...
Janata Samajbadi Party (JSP) Nepal Federal Council Chair and former Prime Minister Dr Baburam Bhattarai said, “The House functioning this way and the House falling captive is misfortunate and I am ashamed of it. We, the people’s representatives, come to attend the meeting, put our signatures on a register, and leave by receiving our allowances. This is not a good practice,” he said, urging the opposition to let the House run smoothly.
NC leader and Minister for Law, Justice and Parliamentary Affairs, Dilendra Prasad Badu expressed his concern that some people were trying to raise a sub-judice issue in parliament.
The Speaker is drawing the attention of the main opposition toward the end of the situation, according to him.
It may be noted the main opposition is unhappy with the Speaker citing that he did not entertain the party proposal to disqualify 14 members.
‘Ruling parties not serious’
CPN (UML) Vice-chairperson Subashchandra Nemwang has claimed that the major opposition party protesting in parliament was not a cause for concern for the ruling parties.
Nemwang said, "They seem to be enjoying it. The ruling parties are not serious about it. We have been repeatedly telling the government to be serious about the issues we raise."
"Obstruction of parliament is not our choice, it's our compulsion," he clarified.
