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CPN-UML candidate Suhang Nembang, who was elected to the House of Representatives from Ilam-2, took the oath of office and secrecy on Wednesday.

Speaker Devraj Ghimire administered the oath of office and secrecy to Nembang amidst a function organized at the hall of Agriculture Committee in Singha Durbar this afternoon.

Deputy Speaker Indira Rana, Law, Justice and Parliamentary Affairs Minister Padam Giri, Defense Minister Hari Prasad Uprety, chief whips of various political parties and Parliament Secretariat General Secretary Padam Prasad Pandey among others were present on the occasion.

Nembang defeated Nepali Congress candidate Dambar Khadka by a margin of 5, 830 votes in the by-election held on April 27.

Nembang mustered 27, 772 votes while his closest contender Khadka garnered 21, 942 votes.

The by-election was held in Ilam-2 after the demise of Subash Nembang, father of Suhang Nembang.

Prime Minister Pushpa Kamal Dahal has directed the authorities to complete remaining works of the Sunsari Marin Diversion Multipurpose Project in the designated time.

After enquiring about the project in the course of monitoring its site in Sunkoshi Rural Municipality today, PM Dahal directed to diagnose possible problems in the project and fix them in a timely manner, PM's personal secretariat informed.

"There may emerge several challenges in the multipurpose project having larger scope of work", PM Dahal said, adding, "Please be prepared with thinking, action plan and early preparation to identify and resolve the problem". 

He also instructed the authorities to work in a way to get returns of investment on time.

PM Dahal directed the project chiefs to prepare a concrete action plan for punishment and rewards to the project employees.

Stressing the need for completing the construction works related to barrage, powerhouse, electromechanical, transmission line, river control and social development works on time with high priority, the Prime Minister said that all the works as specified in the action plan and procurement master plan should be completed within the stipulated time.

Assuring that there would be no budget crunch as marine diversion is a transformative project of national pride, PM Dahal said that the government would fully facilitate the construction of the project.

The budget session of the House of Representative (HoR) is beginning from May 10.  As per constitutional provisions, the government has to present the budget by the end of May.

But the main opposition Nepali Congress and Rastriya Swatantra Party (RSP) have toughened their respective stances, signaling that the parliamentary stalemate, seen during the winter session, will continue. NC has said it will not allow the government to table the budget in the Parliament if it does not form a parliamentary panel to investigate Rabi Lamichhane’s alleged involvement in a cooperative fraud. At a meeting called by Speaker Devraj Ghimire, NC reiterated its call for a parliamentary probe panel. “We are firm in our position and hope that the government will address our demands,” said NC leader Ramesh Lekhak.

Earlier in the day, RSP’s official meeting reiterated its stance against the formation of a panel to probe Lamichhane’s alleged involvement in the case. At the meeting, RSP leaders accused NC of trying to create friction in the five-party ruling alliance at the whims of some external forces. Lamichhane has been demanding that he be allowed to speak in the parliament to come clean on the charges leveled against him. “We won’t accept a probe panel targeted against an individual (Lamichhane),” Manish Jha, a lawmaker from RSP, said and suggested forming a panel for investigating all cooperative frauds across the country.

Lamichhane has written to the Speaker urging the latter to allow him to furnish clarifications on the allegations leveled against him. Prime Minister Pushpa Kamal Dahal and CPN-UML KP Sharma Oli have maintained that a panel targeting an individual will not resolve the cooperative crisis.

Deputy Prime Minister and Home Minister Rabi Lamichhane has said that he has already spoken with the Malaysian Home Minister to arrest GB Rai, who was involved in the cooperative fraud case.

Speaking to journalists at Singha Durbar on Tuesday, Lamichhane said that he has already held a discussion with the Malaysian Home Minister to detain GB Rai.

Though there are some legal hurdles to bring Rai back to Nepal, Lamichhane, who is also the President of Rastriya Swatantra Party, said that he has discussed the issue with the political leaders in Malaysia.

Home Minister Lamichhane said that he is also searching for the persons who helped Rai flee the country.