Both sides ready to form parliamentary probe committee, but House will not function until it is formed: NC

The main opposition Nepali Congress has maintained its stance not to allow the House to function until a parliamentary committee is formed to investigate Deputy Prime Minister and Home Minister Rabi Lamichhane in the cooperative case.

Talking to journalists after the meeting of the task force held to prepare the terms of reference (ToR) of the parliamentary probe committee on Tuesday, Nepali Congress Deputy General Secretary Jeevan Pariyar informed that though both ruling and opposition parties are ready to form the committee, his party's stance of not allowing the Parliament to proceed with its business remains the same until it is formed.

“The party has been raising the issue of Lamichhane’s alleged involvement in the cooperative fraud case for the past few weeks. We put our views on the same issue in today’s meeting also. It has been agreed to move ahead by holding further discussions. A meeting is being held to discuss to find ways to forge common consensus on the issue raised by us,” he said, adding, “The House will not function until the parliamentary probe committee is formed.”

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.