KATHMANDU: Speaker of the House of Representatives Dol Prasad Aryal has said that the parliamentary “emergency hour” will be made more systematic through discussions in the Business Advisory Committee.
During Thursday’s House meeting, several lawmakers stood from their seats seeking time to speak on contemporary issues even after the emergency hour had concluded and the zero hour session was about to begin.
Following the disruption, Speaker Aryal urged the members to remain seated.
Lawmakers including Rajendra Kumar Rai and Balawati Sharma continued demanding time to speak during the emergency hour.
In response, Speaker Aryal clarified that parliamentary practice allows lawmakers to raise only highly important incidents and issues affecting public life that have emerged between the end of the previous House meeting and the current session.
He also stated that the Speaker has the authority to deny speaking time if the issue registered by a lawmaker is not considered sufficiently sensitive or urgent for the emergency hour.
After members continued standing from their seats, Speaker Aryal eventually allowed additional lawmakers to speak beyond the scheduled limit.
Parliamentary practice also permits lawmakers to draw the government’s attention to contemporary issues during the emergency hour, zero hour, and special hour sessions in Parliament.
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