HoR meeting postponed until June 8 as opposition protests continue

KATHMANDU: The meeting of the House of Representatives has been adjourned till June 8 after opposition lawmakers continued chanting slogans from the well, demanding that the Prime Minister Balendra Shah clarify his statement on the Nepal-India border issue.

Speaker Dol Prasad Aryal announced that the next meeting of the House of Representatives would be held on June 8.

Earlier, opposition parties had warned that they would not allow Parliament to function unless the Prime Minister corrected his statement that Nepal had also encroached on Indian territory.

Speaking at the meeting, Abhishek Pratap Shah of the Nepali Congress (NC) described the Prime Minister’s remarks as highly erroneous and objectionable. “Our party strongly opposes this statement,” he said, adding that if the Prime Minister had made the remark knowingly, it would be extremely dangerous.

He said parliament should only be allowed to proceed after the Prime Minister withdraws the statement and apologises to the House.

Similarly, Harka Raj Rai of the Shram Sanskriti Party (SSP) demanded that the remarks made by the Prime Minister, as head of the government, be corrected immediately. He also called on the Prime Minister to appear before parliament and answer questions regarding the statement. “The Prime Minister must come to this House and clarify which parts of India’s territory Nepal has encroached upon,” he said.

Khushbu Oli of the Rastriya Prajatantra Party (RPP) said the Prime Minister’s statement had become an extremely serious issue from diplomatic, legal and national security perspectives. She reminded the House that the Office of the Prime Minister represents an institution rather than an individual and expressed concern that the remarks could trigger a national crisis.

Similarly, Yubaraj Dulal of the Nepali Communist Party (NC) said the Prime Minister’s comments on the country’s borders were a matter of national concern and that a solution to the issue must emerge through parliament.

Dulal further demanded that the statement be removed from the parliamentary record.