KATHMANDU, March 15: With Parliament in its winter bill session, Speaker Devraj Ghimire is readying for a foreign visit. Parliamentary norms and values dictate that the Speaker can only leave Parliament during sessions under special circumstances.
Last year, the Speaker faced criticism for going on a 10-day foreign visit without delegating responsibilities to the Deputy Speaker, which resulted in a 10-day adjournment of Parliament from March 21 to 31. This time, Speaker Ghimire is preparing for another foreign visit, which will lead to Parliament being adjourned for 10 days, from April 4 to 15.
The Speaker, along with a team of lawmakers, will travel to Tashkent, the capital of Uzbekistan, to participate in the 150th General Assembly of the Inter-Parliamentary Union (IPU).
Mr Speaker, Either Prove or Apologize!
Former lawmaker and legal expert Radheshyam Adhikari stressed that the Speaker should prioritize Parliament's work. He said, "The primary focus should be on Parliament, and the Speaker should only go on a foreign visit if it does not interfere with Parliament's work."
Adhikari suggested that if the Speaker must go, the Deputy Speaker should take on the responsibilities. The Speaker has called a meeting of the Parliamentary Business Advisory Committee on Saturday to finalize the agenda for the House of Representatives' session until March 28. Nepali Congress Chief Whip Shyam Kumar Ghimire mentioned that the committee would also discuss assigning the responsibility of running the session to the Deputy Speaker.
The House of Representatives Rules of Procedure allow the Deputy Speaker to preside over the session if the Speaker provides written permission or is absent. If the opposition does not insist on continuing the session, Parliament plans to adjourn it from mid-March or early April until mid-April.
After the consultation committee meeting, the Parliament Secretariat will publish the session agenda until March 28. Since the Speaker will leave on April 4, the Secretariat has decided not to release the agenda for the period after that until mid-April.
