KATHMANDU: Speaker of the House of Representatives, Devraj Ghimire, has initiated dialogue with the chief whips of various parties in an effort to resolve the ongoing obstruction in Parliament.
The House has remained stalled for the past six consecutive sessions due to protests from opposition parties.
The opposition bloc has been demanding the resignation of Home Minister Ramesh Lekhak and the formation of a parliamentary committee to investigate alleged human trafficking and abuse of visit visas. Despite growing pressure, the government has shown no clear intention of forming such a committee, prompting further discontent.
Opposition parties have accused the ruling coalition, especially Nepali Congress and CPN-UML, of downplaying the severity of the visa scandal and shielding the home minister. They have insisted that the government’s reluctance to probe the matter undermines public trust and accountability.
After the budget was presented on May 29, the Speaker had scheduled the next meeting for June 3. However, repeated obstructions have prevented any session from taking place between June 3 and June 9. In an effort to break the impasse, Speaker Ghimire has called for another session on Wednesday and resumed talks with chief whips.
Observers have drawn parallels with past disruptions, such as when the then-opposition Nepali Congress obstructed 22 House sessions over a cooperative fraud scandal during the previous administration led by Pushpa Kamal Dahal.
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