Kathmandu: The ruling Rastriya Swatantra Party on Tuesday informed Parliament that Prime Minister Balen Shah is likely to appear in the House within a week amid continued opposition protests over his absence.
RSP chief whip Kavindra Burlakoti told the House that the Prime Minister’s secretariat had conveyed that Shah would soon attend Parliament and respond to lawmakers’ concerns. He shared the information after discussions with the chief whips, whips, and the Prime Minister’s secretariat during a 15-minute suspension of Tuesday’s meeting.
Speaker Dol Prasad Aryal also repeatedly said he had received information that the Prime Minister would soon appear in Parliament. However, he refused the opposition’s demand to issue a formal ruling fixing a date for the Prime Minister’s attendance.
The assurance from the ruling side helped end the House obstruction ahead of the presentation of the next fiscal year’s budget on Jestha 15.
Opposition parties had been protesting after Prime Minister Shah left midway during President Ram Chandra Poudel’s presentation of the government’s policies and programmes on Baisakh 28. Shah also skipped subsequent discussions and responses related to the policies and programmes, prompting criticism from parties including the Nepali Congress, CPN-UML, and Rastriya Prajatantra Party.
The opposition has also demanded implementation of Rule 56 of the House regulations, which requires a direct question-and-answer session with the Prime Minister during the first week of every month.
Although Speaker Aryal acknowledged that the opposition’s demand was constitutionally and legally valid, he declined to issue a ruling, saying the Prime Minister would respond soon.
People’s News Monitoring Service
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