KATHMANDU: This morning, Speaker of the House of Representatives Devraj Ghimire held a meeting with Acting President Dol Prasad (DP) Aryal and Chief Whip Santosh Pariyar of the Rastriya Swatantra Party (RSP) at the official residence in Baluwatar.

During the meeting, Speaker Ghimire acknowledged that the parliament has been effectively stalled for two weeks due to opposition-led obstruction. He stressed the urgent need for comprehensive discussions on the budget, expressing concern that the deadlock is sending a wrong message to the public.

“The issues raised by the opposition are serious, which is why I allowed the parliament to remain on hold for two weeks seeking consensus. However, now there is no room for further delay. As the parliamentary leader, I must also uphold constitutional limits. The National Assembly has mandated that the appropriation bill be sent from the House of Representatives within five days. Given these circumstances, the budget must be passed at any cost,” the Speaker said.

He urged the opposition leaders to reconsider their form of protest and to respect constitutional boundaries and obligations. Speaker Ghimire also committed to facilitating dialogue with the government to foster serious discussions.

Representatives from RSP responded by emphasizing that their demands are serious and represent the genuine problems faced by the people. “Since the government has not addressed our issues seriously, obstruction of parliament became necessary. Nonetheless, we remain open to dialogue and discussions to find a solution,” they said.

The meeting lasted about one hour.