NC upping the ante against DPM Lamichhane

The Nepali Congress, the main opposition party in the Federal Parliament, has decided to hit the streets demanding a parliamentary inquiry against Deputy Prime Minister and Home Minister Rabi Lamichhane, who faces charges of misappropriating cooperative funds, his resignation and return of cooperative depositors’ embezzled funds.

The joint meeting of the Congress Central Committee and the Parliamentary Party held on Wednesday decided to stage a demonstration on Friday in Kathmandu and also organize protests outside the Kathmandu valley thereafter. 

The Congress central meeting maintained that Lamichhane should not remain in power because he had used rude, violent and insulting words in the parliament, a leader participating in the meeting informed, adding that it also decided to demand the recouping of cooperative victims’ embezzled deposits.

The government is heading on the path of authoritarianism instead of forming a parliamentary probe committee to look into cases of cooperative fraud, leaving Congress leaders with no other option than organizing protests against such an undemocratic culture, said Dila Sangraula, Congress central member and lawmaker.

“Now, Congress leaders will take to the streets. We have decided to stage the protest not only in the Parliament but also on the roads. Our protest will continue until the parliamentary probe committee is formed and the victims of cooperatives get justice,” she said.

Earlier, the major ruling and opposition parties represented in the Federal Parliament failed to agree on the terms of reference (ToR) for the parliamentary committee to investigate the issue of cooperative fraud, rendering Sunday’s meeting of the working group at the Ministry of Law, Justice and Parliamentary Affairs inconclusive. 

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 that an individual-centric probe is simply unacceptable.