Will the budget session be smooth?

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.