The ruling and opposition parties have come close to an agreement to open the session of the House of Representatives, which has been stalled since May 13. Opposition parties have said that the ruling party is ready to study the issue of visit visa and immigration, and if there is a clear commitment, the obstruction of the House will be removed. The opposition parties have backed down from the demand for the Home Minister's resignation over the visit visa issue.

After the authority arrested the Chief Immigration Officer at Tribhuvan Airport, Teerthraj Bhattarai, and proceeded with the investigation, the opposition parties did not allow the meeting of the House of Representatives to proceed, demanding the resignation of Home Minister Ramesh Akhtar and a high-level investigation.

It was discovered in the investigation of the authority that immigration sends citizens abroad on visit visas after charging a 'setting' settlement amount. Due to the disruption of the House of Representatives meeting, the discussion on the budget for the next financial year is also being affected.

As the authorities are investigating the visit visa case, the ruling party has been maintaining the stance that the opposition party should remove the obstruction of the House unconditionally. But as the House deadlock continues, the ruling parties are ready to study/investigate the issue of immigration. The ruling and opposition parties held discussions throughout the day on Thursday to reach an agreement.  According to the

leaders, there is an agreement on two main points. It is prepared to write that the government will provide necessary support in the investigation being conducted by the authority on the case of visit visa and solve the problem of immigration and visit visa.

'Another point is also prepared to be written in agreement that concrete initiatives will be taken for appropriate arrangements/structures in policy, legal and structural questions to solve the problems seen in relation to immigration and visit visas,' said a leader. The leader said that although the opposition party has asked for a commitment for study and research, it is yet to come from the ruling party. 

Main opposition Maoist leader Pushpa Kamal Dahal held discussions with the ruling Congress and UML as well as opposition parties on Thursday. He initially discussed with Madhav Kumar Nepal, president of United Samajwadi Party, at the Singha Darbar. After that, he had a discussion with the leaders of the parties including RSVP in the Parliament building. 

Dahal also interacted with Speaker Devraj Ghimire. At that time, Speaker Ghimire mentioned that there would be a delay in passing the budget and informed that there was a problem in advancing the parliamentary process of the Civil and Citizenship Bill, which is considered important for the implementation of federalism. The Speaker asked Dahal to reach a consensus like when passing the bill related to transitional justice. In response, Dahal stated that he is taking initiatives to remove the obstruction of the parliament and said that there will be an agreement between the government and the opposition parties soon. 

After the meeting of the ruling and opposition parties, Dahal said that an agreement was reached regarding the investigation of the situation of visit visas and immigration. He asked the opposition parties to present themselves in the parliament in a political manner. "We came to the conclusion that a serious study and investigation of the visit visa case and immigration situation is the main issue, the resignation of the Home Minister is not the main issue," said Dahal, "We reached a place where we made a written agreement about the study and investigation." Without a commitment from the ruling party to investigate, there is no situation in which the opposition will be ready.

Maoist Chairman Dahal says that after the commitment from the ruling party to take the initiative to study and investigate the immigration issues that have existed since the past, there has been an environment of consensus. According to him, RSVP has asked for time to discuss this issue within the party. 

General Minister Gagan Thapa, who participated on behalf of the Congress in the discussion on opening the obstruction of the Parliament, informed that both sides have reached an agreement. It is believed that the House will open from Friday after reaching an agreement with the main opposition. The visit visa case will be investigated by the Abuse of Authority Investigation Commission. But on the whole, the government will move forward by establishing appropriate mechanisms and structures in investigating and studying immigration and visit visas," he said.

Mahesh Bertaula, the chief whip of UML, said that preparations are being made to move the parliament forward with an agreement between the government and the main opposition. It has been agreed to end the obstruction in the House of Representatives and conduct the meeting. The topics of investigation and study of immigration have been raised in the parliament, and the government has taken serious attention to it. The immigration system has been known to have problems in the past. The government is committed to rectifying the problem administratively, legally and structurally,' he said, 'there is no reason for the ruling party to reject the proposal presented by the main opposition Maoists.' The issue of whether to form an investigation committee or not is stuck. There is still confusion on whether to form an inquiry committee by setting a date or not. The nature of the inquiry has not been agreed upon. We are not in a position to be flexible from the five-point stand submitted to the Congress," he said. "We want the three major parties to understand its seriousness. There should be an investigation from the parliamentary branch rather than from the government and a date should be set.

Wagle said that the RSVP was not aware of what the leaders of the main opposition parties had agreed to. We do not know in writing what kind of agreement Prachanda has reached with the ruling parties, we know that there have been discussions and negotiations at various stages. But the ruling party has not reached an agreement with the RSVP. "Discussions are going on, a solution may come by Friday," he said. Wagle says that it is more important to raise the issue of visit visa in the House than the ritualistic discussion of the budget. 

Home Minister Ramesh Akhtar has said that there is no reason to disrupt the Parliament regarding the visit visa issue. In a program held in Kathmandu, he expressed his displeasure that the Parliament was obstructed out of revenge. "Parliament has been blocked for some time. There is no reason, meaning, justification for obstructing the Parliament. I do not blame all the opposition parties, but some people in the opposition are making demands and prejudices in a planned and political conspiracy manner,' he said.