KATHMANDU: Nepali Congress President Sher Bahadur Deuba has expressed sarcasm over Prime Minister K P Oli’s recent Europe visit. He dubbed the visit as a ‘total failure’.

Leader of the main opposition party, Deuba said PM Oli’s UK-visit has been an utter failure since possibilities of long-term agreements with the United Kingdom were slim as UK Prime Minister Theresa May was only a caretaker Prime Minister. “PM Oli should have understood this better,” Deuba said.

Speaking on Wednesday’s session of the House of Representatives (HoR), former Prime Minister Deuba reminisced his own visit to the United Kingdom some 17 years ago when he claimed to have ‘succeeded’ in settling the pension issue of the Gurkha Army. In a sarcastic tone, Deuba added, “The ‘Whites’ even hesitated to give him (PM Oli) a guard of honor in the UK.”

He also ridiculed Oli for failing to meet the French President during his visit to France. “The President did not meet him (PM Oli),” said Deuba.

In another context, Deuba came down heavily on the Prime Minister for snubbing him time and again. “The Prime Minister cannot and should not abstain from the parliament when a leader of the main opposition party speaks in the House,” Deuba said. “This is unfair,” he complained. It should be noted that PM Oli was not present in the parliament when NC President Deuba was addressing Wednesday’s session.

On the issue of the widely-talked-about Guthi Bill, Deuba said the government should have withdrawn the bill from the parliament instead of the government.