Kathmandu: The House of Representatives meeting on Thursday witnessed unusual scenes as lawmakers from both the ruling and opposition parties were involved in an altercation.
Despite obstruction by the Nepali Congress, the main opposition party, Speaker Devraj Ghimire proceeded with the meeting, leading to pushing and shoving between Congress and UML lawmakers.
After Speaker Ghimire called Deputy Prime Minister and Home Minister Rabi Lamichhane to address the meeting, lawmakers from the Nepali Congress tried to stop the Home Minister from reaching the rostrum, leading to an altercation between lawmakers from the ruling and opposition parties.
The Nepali Congress has decided to continue obstructing the House, alleging that the government is hesitant to form a house panel to investigate allegations against Deputy Prime Minister and Home Minister Rabi Lamichhane.
In a meeting held on Thursday between the Nepali Congress, the main opposition, and ruling parties, no consensus could be reached to end the parliamentary deadlock. The opposition party has been consistently obstructing the House of Representatives, demanding an investigation into Lamichhane, who also chairs the Rastriya Swatantra Party, over allegations of embezzling cooperative funds worth billions of rupees.
Addressing the media, Prakash Saran Mahat, spokesperson for the Nepali Congress, accused the government of attempting to divert attention from the main issue. “Nepali Congress will not let the house run until the government decides to form a house panel,” said Dr. Mahat.
Earlier, Speaker Devraj Ghimire had called for a House meeting at 11 AM today, which was later postponed to 4:00 PM in an attempt to resolve the ongoing parliamentary deadlock.
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