The proposal for a special session of the House, duly summoned by President Dr Ram Baran Yadav at the request of the main opposition Maoist party and six fringe parties, was withdrawn as per an agreement reached under a two-point deal. Speaker Subash Nembang read out a letter saying the House session had ended.[break]
Maoist Chief Whip Post Bahadur Bogati, on behalf of petitioners, announced the withdrawal of the proposal after leaders belonging to the parties filing the petition for the special session and Culture Minister Dr Minendra Rijal on behalf of the government put forth their views in parliament about the special session.
Bogati said the decision was taken to strive for an environment of consensus in a new way. He said the two-point agreement reached among the three major parties on Thursday had raised hopes of forging a national consensus for a new government.
In the two-point agreement reached at a meeting held at Singha Durbar earlier in the afternoon, the three major parties agreed to withdraw the proposal on special session, request President Yadav to call a regular session ´without any delay´ and give priority to the ongoing process to form a new government in the soon-to-be-summoned regular session.
Talking to media after the meeting, Senior Vice-chairman of the UML Bam Dev Gautam said the three parties agreed to request President Yadav to summon a regular session of the House within a week. “We have made sincere efforts to forge consensus among the political parties,” he said. “The regular session of the House will be summoned after consultations between the prime minister and the president.”
Gautam said that though there was agreement to withdraw the proposal for the special session, the NC remained adamant on not withdrawing the prime ministerial candidacy of Ram Chandra Poudel. The party will hold one-on-one negotiations before finally sitting for a three-party meeting Sunday at the level of top leaders to forge a national consensus on forming a new government through a regular session of the House.
Leaders involved in the talks said the Maoists had demanded that the regular session be summoned within one week, citing the urgency of forming the new government. As the NC asked the others not to summon a session before January 1, saying they needed time to observe National Reconciliation Day, the three parties have agreed to summon the regular session within the first week of January.
- Three parties agree to summon regular session at earliest
- Give priority during session to formation of new government
- Next three-party meeting on December 26
Altogether 187 lawmakers from the Maoists, CPN (ML-Socialist), Nepal Sadbhawana Party (Anandi Devi), CPN (Ekikrit), Nepali Janta Dal, Janamukti Party and Nepaa Rastriya Party had filed a petition at the President´s Office demanding the special session. The lawmakers stated in the petition that the House session had become necessary to elect a new prime minister, amend the parliamentary regulations and discuss urgent issues.
Leaders of all seven parties filing the petition for special session addressed parliament before the Maoist chief withdrew the proposal for special session.
CA members in the special House session. (Photo: Bhaswor Ojha)
Addressing parliament, Maoist Vice-chairman Narayan Kaji Shrestha said they reached an agreement to withdraw the proposal for a special session as there was a ´positive agreement´ on forming a new government. He said the special session was summoned with a view to giving the country a new prime minister at the earliest and expediting constitution-drafting and the peace process.
Minister Rijal, on behalf of the government, said in parliament that the government would immediately call the winter session as per the agreement reached during the three-party meeting. “We think it is the responsibility of the outgoing government to make arrangements for the formation of the new one,” he said.
He, however, asked the Maoists not to think that it is the responsibility of the outgoing government alone to work for the formation of a new government.
During the parliament meeting, Speaker Nembang informed parliamentarian about the Supreme Court ruling that lawmakers cannot stay neutral in the voting to elect the prime minister.
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