Parliament agrees to resume after deal on PM’s address

KATHMANDU: A consensus has been reached between the ruling and opposition parties to resume the House of Representatives proceedings after brief disruption in Parliament on Tuesday.

The agreement was forged following an informal meeting held at Singha Durbar among chief whips of the Rastriya Swatantra Party (RSP), Nepali Congress, CPN-UML, CPN (Maoist Centre), Shram Sanskriti Party, and Rastriya Prajatantra Party after Speaker adjourned the House for 15 minutes.

Opposition parties had been obstructing parliamentary sessions, accusing Prime Minister Balendra Shah of violating parliamentary rules by not attending the monthly first-week question-and-answer session between the Prime Minister and lawmakers, as mandated by the House regulations.

CPN-UML chief whip Yubaraj Dulal said the ruling side has committed to arranging the Prime Minister’s address in today’s parliamentary sitting. Representing the Rastriya Swatantra Party, chief whip Kabindra Burlakoti stated that the government will announce a date for the Prime Minister’s appearance in Parliament.

“The ruling side has expressed commitment that the Prime Minister will speak in the House, and the opposition has agreed to lift the obstruction,” Burlakoti said.

The meeting was attended by Kabindra Burlakoti from RSP, Basana Thapa from Nepali Congress, Ain Bahadur Mahar from CPN-UML, Yubaraj Dulal from CPN (Maoist Centre), Aran Rai from Shram Sanskriti Party, and Khushbu Oli from RPP.

With the agreement in place, parliamentary proceedings are expected to resume smoothly.