KATHMANDU: A meeting convened by Speaker of the House of Representatives, Devraj Ghimire, to address the ongoing obstruction of Parliament by the Maoist Center ended without resolution today.
Before the House of Representatives session on Sunday, Speaker Ghimire brought together the chief whips and whips of the five national parties at Singha Durbar.
The Maoist Center remained resolute in its demand that the term “violence,” used by CPN-UML MP Yogesh Bhattarai during a previous session, be expunged from the parliamentary record before they agree to lift their blockade of Parliament.
Chief Whip of the Maoist Center, Hitraj Pandey, indicated that he would brief his party on the discussions from the meeting.
Pandey emphasized, “This is not merely about semantics. It pertains to the essence of our People’s War. Our party has decided to end the blockade, but Parliament must be organized and function properly.”
Pandey also noted that no definitive decision had been reached regarding the continuation of the parliamentary obstruction.
Following Bhattarai’s characterization of the Maoists’ armed struggle as ‘violence,’ Chief Whip Pandey lodged an objection.
In response, Speaker Ghimire instructed the Parliament Secretariat to investigate the matter.
The investigation confirmed that the term ‘violence’ had been used previously in the House of Representatives session, which had prompted a Maoist parliamentarian to interrupt the proceedings, labeling it as unparliamentary.
The Maoist Parliamentary Party has declared that Parliament will not resume normal functions until the Speaker clarifies that the term “violence” is not deemed unparliamentary, asserting that its usage is an attempt to undermine the “people’s war.”
Speaker Ghimire has upheld that his decision adheres to Rules 21 and 26 of the House of Representatives’ regulations, which state that the Speaker’s ruling on objections is final.
He criticized the opposition for not accepting this decision, alleging that it is causing unnecessary confusion.
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