Kathmandu, May 21: MPs have demanded that the Prime Minister appear in Parliament and answer questions from MPs in accordance with the provision in Article 56 of the House of Representatives Rules.
After the special time of today’s House of Representatives meeting ended, the Speaker Dol Prasad Aryal gave time to the opposition lawmaker Ain Mahar of the opposition party Nepal CPN (UML) who stood up to express protest, demanding the Prime Minister’s presence in the House.
Mahar had requested the Speaker to summon the Prime Minister to the House, stating that the Prime Minister would become autocratic if he ignored Rule 56, accusing him of deflecting the Parliament.
Since the regulations allow for putting direct questions to the PM, and as the provision for the Speaker to allocate an hour’s time for this purpose on the first week of the calling of parliament session was not made even until the 7th of Jestha, Mahar urged the Speaker to make the Prime Minister to be present in order to proceed with the House business.
Opposition party Shram Sanskriti Party MP Aren Rai called for a ruling from the Speaker to summon the Prime Minister, as Parliament cannot function by going beyond the rules and regulations above the rule of law and policy.
Nepali Communist Party (NCP) MP Yubaraj Dulal had demanded that the Prime Minister be summoned, stating that the provision to hold the Parliament accountable had been violated, the constitution breached, and this was a matter of respect towards the sovereign people.
Rastriya Prajatantra Party (RPP) MP Khusbu Oli demanded in the House that the Prime Minister be summoned since there is a provision that allows for 15 members to ask question to the PM, and the ruling party lawmakers can also ask questions.
Ashok Kumar Chaudhary of the Rastriya Swatantra Party (RSP) stated that the parliament should proceed ahead with its business according to the agenda.
The Speaker Aryal repeatedly requested the protesting MPs to sit, but when they did not, the meeting was adjourned for 15 minutes today.
