Speaker Returns Empty-Handed After Meeting with Prime Minister, Parliament in Uncertainty

Kathmandu — Speaker Dolaprasad Aryal, who had gone to urge Prime Minister Balendra Shah to attend Parliament, returned empty-handed without receiving a positive response.

After opposition parties obstructed the House, demanding that the Prime Minister hold a question-and-answer session as per parliamentary regulations, Speaker Aryal had gone to apprise Prime Minister Shah of the situation and request his presence in the House. However, he did not receive a favourable reply.

The opposition parties had also obstructed Wednesday’s parliamentary session, demanding that the Prime Minister conduct the question-and-answer session during the first week of the month in accordance with Rule 56 of the parliamentary regulations. Prime Minister Shah, who was not present in Parliament even during the discussion and response on the government’s policies and programmes, has been avoiding the House ever since.

After the opposition parties raised objections and also questioned the Speaker’s role in the matter, Aryal went to request the Prime Minister to attend the House. According to an official at the Parliament Secretariat, the Speaker, after adjourning the parliamentary session for 15 minutes, went to meet Prime Minister Shah, who was within the Singha Durbar premises, but did not receive a positive response.