Summer session of parliament begins

KATHMANDU: The second session of the House of Representatives commenced on Monday.

The summer session of parliament is often called the budget session, as the government presents its policy and program and the federal budget for the upcoming fiscal year during this session.

As soon as Monday’s meeting began, opposition lawmakers stood up from their seats in protest. Speaker Dol Prasad Aryal urged them not to obstruct proceedings, saying that time would be allocated during the emergency hour for them to speak. The meeting resumed after lawmakers from the Nepali Congress, CPN-UML, and Shram Sanskriti Party (SSP) took their seats.

During the meeting, a letter from the President regarding the convening of the parliamentary session was read out.

Opposition lawmakers were then given three minutes each to speak during the emergency hour. They expressed dissatisfaction over ordinances introduced by the government and its actions to clear unmanaged and squatter settlements.

Nepali Congress (NC) lawmaker Nischal Rai objected to an attempt to move forward with a draft House regulation that he said would grant special concessions to lawmakers in corruption cases.

Similarly, Padma Kumari Aryal of CPN-UML said the government’s so-called “new thinking” was an attempt by the executive to impose arbitrariness by sidelining Parliament.

Likewise, Nepal Communist Party (NCP) lawmaker Yubaraj Dulal said the government was moving towards authoritarianism and must answer for its actions. He said the government had mocked the spirit of consensus by bringing ordinances and turning the Constitutional Council into a game of majority politics.

The House meeting has been adjourned until 5 pm.

President Ramchandra Paudel is scheduled to present the government’s policy and program at the joint session of the House of Representatives and National Assembly at 4 pm.