Parliament: Opposition in centre of conflict

Parliament has not been able to move forward due to the continuous obstruction of the main opposition party, the CPN-UML, after the restoration of the House of Representatives. The members of parliament have not been able to raise the issues of livelihood in the House of Representatives and the government has not been able to present the bill. This has obscured the questions of the people.

It has been said that the bill to institutionalize the important achievements gained from the people's struggle including republic, federalism, secularism, proportional inclusion system has not been completed by the parliament. The ninth session of the federal parliament was also affected due to the obstruction of the UML. However, amid opposition barriers, Parliament has made some important decisions.

The tenth session of the federal parliament has started on December 14. There is no indication that the current session as a bill session will run smoothly. UML's obstruction remained in the two meetings of the current convention. Despite the blockade, Parliament has entered the agenda.

Although the government and the speaker have taken initiative to remove the obstruction in the parliament, it has not taken a meaningful form. UML, the largest party in the parliament, is boycotting the all-party call called by the speaker and the government to make the parliament effective.

UML has been boycotting the all-party meeting stating that it has not posted the notice of resignation of 14 lawmakers. The issue of action against the UML MPs is being considered in the court. The Rules of Procedure of the House of Representatives have made provision that the issues pending in the court cannot be discussed in the Parliament.

Meanwhile, Speaker Agni Prasad Sapkota has repeatedly urged the Opposition to keep the house running smoothly. He has been requesting in every parliament meeting not to obstruct the functioning of the supreme body of the people. He also urged the main opposition parties to present themselves responsibly in the meeting of the Business Advisory Committee of the House of Representatives on Tuesday.

In the meeting, Speaker Sapkota had stressed leaving the issue under consideration in the court and informing the Parliament. He also urged the people to keep the issues raised by the UML through the parliament. The Speaker had repeatedly urged the people not to raise their voices on various issues including the livelihood of the people in the parliament, which is the supreme body of the people's representatives.

In the consultation meeting, he also drew the attention of the opposition parties to the problems faced by the people due to the non-passage of important bills including the Citizenship Bill and the Federal Civil Service. Ordinary citizens have been affected by fundamental rights as the bills of public importance have not been able to go through the process.

Dev Prasad Gurung of the CPN-Maoist Center, says that the UML, the largest party in the federal parliament, has to present itself responsibly. He remarked that the UML had obstructed the parliament and the issue was being considered in the Supreme Court.

He said, "Both the ruling party and the oppositions run the house together. This system is trapped when the House is blocked. The question is what is the UML's attitude towards this system. ”

Criticizing the Speaker for not holding a meeting of the Business Advisory Committee in the previous session, UML has stopped participating in the meeting in recent days. During the last two days' meeting of the working system, the UML representatives had come out with their issues. Vishal Bhattarai said that the Speaker did not convene a regular meeting while the House was in regular session.

The Speaker had also convened a meeting of the Business Advisory Committee on December 14. The UML representatives also left the meeting with their views. Also on Tuesday, the Speaker held a meeting of the Advisory Committee at 11:30 am in New Baneshwor. The UML representative also left the meeting with his views. "We used to go to the meeting when there was a need for a meeting of the working system. We did not hold the meeting at that time. Now, when there is a dispute with the UML, we have been holding a meeting.

After the representatives of the main opposition parties were being ignored in the working system, the speaker had stated his views at the beginning of Tuesday's meeting. In his introductory remarks, the Speaker urged the participants to actively participate in the meeting and listen to the Chief Whips of other political parties participating in the Parliament. In Tuesday's meeting, the chief whips of the Nepali Congress, the CPN-Maoist Center, and other parties had urged the UML to show democratic values ​​and ideals.

Chief Whip Bhattarai said that the speaker and the ruling party should try to find a solution by holding discussions with the top leadership of the UML to remove the stalemate in the parliament. He said that the obstruction of the House would be opened if the Speaker posted the notice of resignation of 14 UML MPs.

Speaker Sapkota has called a meeting of the Business Advisory Council at 11:30 this morning to influence the working of the parliament. It is said that the issue of changing the names of the members of various committees including the stalemate in the parliament will be discussed in today's meeting. Parliament is sitting today at 1 p.m.