Submit your Article

The main opposition Nepali Congress has maintained its position that an investigation should be conducted against Deputy Prime Minister and Home Minister Rabi Lamichhane, who is accused of embezzling cooperative funds.

After a Parliamentary Party meeting of the Congress held this morning, Chief Whip Ramesh Lekhak said that they would not allow the House to proceed with its business until a parliamentary committee is formed.

He said that what Lamichhane said in the Parliament was untrue, fabricated and misleading.

The Congress claimed that the Home Minister tried to run away from the allegations leveled against him in the cooperative scam.

“Lamichhane’s remarks are misleading. He tried to run away by blaming others,” he said.

It is clear that Lamichhane had misused the cooperative funds, Lekhak claimed.

The NC has long been obstructing the parliamentary proceedings, alleging the involvement of Deputy Prime Minister Lamichhane in the fraud and demanding the formation of a parliamentary committee to ensure a fair investigation into the case whereas the CPN-UML and RSP in particular have made it clear in no uncertain terms that an individual-centric probe is simply unacceptable.

Prime Minister Pushpa Kamal Dahal is seeking a vote of confidence from the House of Representatives (HoR) today.

He is taking the vote of confidence from the HoR as per the Article 100 (2) of the Constitution.

There is a constitutional provision that if the political party which the Prime Minister represents is divided or a political party of coalition government withdraws its support, the Prime Minister shall table a motion in the HoR for a vote of confidence within 30 days.

PM has to take the vote of confidence with the constituent of the coalition, Janata Samajbadi Party Nepal, headed by then Deputy Prime Minister and Health Minister Upendra Yadav, quitting the government. 

The motion regarding the vote of confidence has to be passed by a majority of all the members in the House of Representatives immediately.

Prime Minister Dahal is scheduled to present a proposal in today's meeting as per Rule 155 of the HoR Regulations 2079 BS.

The Speaker will present the proposal for decision in the meeting. The decision of the Assembly on the motion regarding the vote of confidence will be made by the division of vote with the signature of the member.

Speaker's press advisor Shekhar Adhikari said a meeting of the Business Advisory Committee has been called for 10 am today to discuss the issue of the prime minister's vote of confidence.

The fourth session of the federal Parliament began on May 10.

The government's annual policies and programs for the upcoming fiscal year have already been presented in the joint sitting of the Parliament on May 28.

The major ruling and opposition parties represented in the Federal Parliament failed to agree on the terms of reference (ToR) for the parliamentary committee supposed to investigate the issue of co-operative fraud, rendering Sunday’s meeting of the working group at the Ministry of Law, Justice and Parliamentary Affairs inconclusive and indicating that they will continue to hold the parliament hostage. 

Rastriya Swatantra Party (RSP) continued to dig in heels on the thorny issue, with Shishir Khanal, a working group member and a Member of Parliament (MP) from the ruling party, demanding that the entire cooperative sector be brought under investigation as it is “unfair to investigate only one person”, giving the main opposition Nepali Congress not much leeway. 

But a short break from the standoff came as Deputy Prime Minister Lamichhane fielded questions at the House of Representatives, the lower chamber of the federal parliament, regarding his alleged involvement in the cooperative fraud and denied his role in the case. He asked the main opposition Nepali Congress to think seriously on whether to form a committee targeted at individuals, even as NC’s Chief Whip Ramesh Lekhar said that while the government was ready to form such a panel, UML was not willing to bring Deputy Prime Minister Lamichhane under investigation. 

After Home Minister Lamichhane finished speaking, Members of Parliament from the main opposition Nepali Congress got up from their seats and demanded that they be allowed to speak. But Speaker Devraj Ghimire adjourned the meeting till 11 am on Monday. 

Meanwhile, the upper chamber of the federal parliament continued to bear the brunt of the standoff. The meeting of the National Assembly (NA) initially scheduled for 1:15 pm on Sunday was deferred to 3:15 pm, only to be postponed until Monday. On Sunday, NA Chair Narayana Prasad Dahal was to inform the assembly about a letter received from the Office of the President regarding the appointment of ministers and ministers of state, as well as the allocation of ministerial portfolios. 

The NC has long been obstructing the parliamentary proceedings, alleging the involvement of Deputy Prime Minister Lamichhane in the fraud and demanding the formation of a parliamentary committee to ensure a fair investigation into the case whereas the CPN-UML and RSP in particular have made it clear in no uncertain terms that an individual-centric probe is simply unacceptable.

Nepali Congress General Secretary Gagan Thapa said that the Parliament will not be allowed to function until a parliamentary probe committee is formed to investigate fraud charges against Deputy Prime Minister and Home Minister Rabi Lamichhane.

Organizing a press conference in the Capital on Sunday, he said that Prime Minister Pushpa Kamal Dahal will not be allowed to seek a vote of confidence until a parliamentary probe committee is formed.

“We will not let the House proceed with its business until a parliamentary committee is formed. The process to seek a vote of confidence will not move forward,” he said, adding, “We want the federal Parliament to run without any disruption. Our demand is not illegitimate. We believe that the government, prime minister, deputy prime minister will come by forming a parliamentary probe committee before 11 am tomorrow.”