The ruling party has prepared to register a resolution in the House of Representatives regarding Deputy Speaker Indira Rana's conduct not befitting her position only after her return to the country. Although the Congress and UML had advanced the preparations to register the resolution on Tuesday itself, it was postponed due to the refusal of the smaller parties.

A two-party meeting convened by Prime Minister KP Sharma Oli in Baluwatar before Monday's cabinet meeting concluded that the proposal would be registered on Tuesday. Accordingly, on Tuesday, both the parties started collecting signatures for the proposal registration after internal discussion.

On the same day, a joint meeting was called at the office of the Congress Parliamentary Party in Singhdarbar with Jaspa Nepal, along with Jaspa Nepal, who indicated their support for the proposal. In the meeting, those small parties said that they will not sign until Deputy Speaker Rana returns. 

In the meeting, the president of civil liberties, Ranjita Shrestha, wrote her and the party's name on a blank paper and signed it, while other party's whips left saying that it should be discussed within the party.

There are four MPs in the Civil Immunity, and only Arun Chaudhary, Minister of State for Tourism, is in favor of Chairman Shrestha. Two other MPs Lalveer Chaudhary and Gangaram Chaudhary are in opposition. Public opinion whip Anita Devi and Jaspa Nepal whip Rekha Yadav argued that it is not even humanely appropriate to register the proposal when Deputy Speaker Rana is abroad. 

Janmat MP Abdul Khan said that they suggested that it would not be fair to register the proposal by depriving him of the opportunity to clarify when the Deputy Speaker was abroad. Not only that, we were of the opinion that Congress and UML should be united in this issue first. A similar attempt was made last year too, but it was stopped due to a dispute within the Congress. We have said that Congress and UML will sign only when it becomes clear," he said to Kantipur, "We are forced to vote in favor of the proposal as we are in the power coalition. But now what is important is what Congress and UML do.

JSP Nepal's spokesperson Manish Suman said that plain papers should not be signed when the Deputy Speaker is abroad. He informed that even though Congress and UML have advanced the proposal, the party has not taken any decision on what to do.

The chief whip of the Congress said that the chief whip of our party had called him for consultation. No proposal is signed unless discussed. Now the situation has also changed. It has been a task to drive us away. The situation is not like before.' 

Oli and Deuba are in the strategy of taking Jaspa Nepal, which is in a decisive position to pass the bill in the National Assembly, even in the agenda of removing the deputy speaker. There is also a risk that two-thirds of the resolution against the Deputy Speaker will not be passed if JSP Nepal is not with the party due to the extreme controversy in civil liberties. That is why the Congress and UML reached the point of not registering the resolution until the Deputy Speaker returns home. 

According to an official of the Congress, Deputy Speaker Rana was in a state of mind that since he went to the program of a non-governmental organization and not to the parliament, there was no point in registering the proposal. But there was a dispute within the Congress. Other small parties were also in favor of not registering until the Deputy Speaker returns, so Deuba and Oli withdrew," said the official, adding, "The Deputy Speaker is scheduled to return from America on the 13th and the Prime Minister is scheduled to visit China on the 14th and return only on the 18th. We are in favor of registering the proposal on August 14/15 so that the Prime Minister returns from China and decides. Congress and UML have collected the signatures of the MPs on Wednesday as well. 

UML Chief Whip Mahesh Bertaula said that the proposal will not be registered when the Deputy Speaker is on a US visit. "After he returns, we will talk about it. Questions have also been raised about his international tour. We are also interested in this issue," he said, "Maoist Chairman Prachanda has acted as if he would have registered the proposal today. He also convened a meeting of the opposition party. However, even though he encouraged us, we are not in favor of registering the proposal. We will reach a decision after discussion.' 

According to a top Congress leader, most of the top leaders did not know about Deputy Speaker Rana being abroad even when the meeting of office bearers and ex-officers called by Chairman Sher Bahadur Deuba started on Tuesday morning. Congress leaders say that even Deuba himself is ignorant. 

When the news that Rana is in America started to appear in the media, some top leaders questioned the Chief Whip Shyam Ghimire as to why they did not inform about it. After the Prime Minister called Baluwatar and instructed him to register the proposal, it was assumed that he might have been informed about it. Secondly, he is not informed because he went personally and not under the program of the Parliament,' was Ghimire's answer. 

After that, most of the Congress leaders suggested that the proposal should not be registered without even giving the Deputy Speaker a chance to clarify. General Minister Gagan Thapa, Spokesperson Prakasharan Mahat and leader Arjun Narasimha KC were of the opinion whether to reconsider the circumstances of removing the Deputy Speaker. They warned the leadership saying that such a proposal could cause more damage to the party when by-elections are about to be held in Rupandehi. 

There is a legal provision to start the discussion within seven days after the proposal is registered that the Deputy Speaker has not behaved in accordance with the position. Rana, who went to America on July 30 to participate in the NGO Forum program, is scheduled to return only on August 13. If the resolution was filed on Tuesday itself, Deputy Speaker Rana would not have had an opportunity to clarify the allegations.

According to an official of the Congress, on Tuesday, Chairman Deuba called a meeting of the officials and ex-officers to prepare the proposal. In the meeting, Deuba mainly informed about three questions. First, he said that Rana had to be removed because the ruling party was in the minority in the Constitutional Council. Secondly, he informed that Upendra Yadav-led Jaspa Nepal and CK Raut-led Janmat Party would also support the proposal. Thirdly, Deuba also said that after the removal of the Deputy Speaker Rana, there was an agreement to become the Deputy Speaker from the Congress. 

Deputy Speaker Rana's foreign visit was approved by Speaker Devraj Ghimire. Before leaving for America, she met Speaker Ghimire. "But it seems that the top leaders including Prime Minister Oli and Congress President Deuba have decided to register the proposal without coordinating with the Speaker," said one of the leaders. 

Congress leader Shekhar Koirala, General Minister Gagan Thapa and Bishwaprakash Sharma are dissatisfied when the two top leaders discussed the removal of Deputy Speaker Rana in Baluwatar saying that there was no consultation within the party. Koirala and most of the MPs close to him have not agreed to sign. People close to Mahamantri Thapa have signed it. Congress Vice President Purna Bahadur Khadka also said in the meeting that he had no information about the previous discussions. 

Leader Koirala has warned the leadership not to go ahead with the plan to remove the Deputy Speaker as it will spoil the party's image. General Minister Sharma has demanded that an institutional decision within the party should be made first, saying that the work of 'cooking in sand and getting into Budhanil Kanth' is not acceptable. Even Jaspa Nepal and Janmat Party, who promised to support the proposal as the dissatisfaction within the Congress is increasing, have not formally made any opinion. 

In the executive committee meeting held on Wednesday morning, Maoist chief whip Hitraj Pandey inquired about what is going to be done about the Deputy Speaker. Member of Executive Committee and Congress MP Ramhari Khatiwada had raised the issue of misuse of diplomatic passports by the Deputy Speaker while attending a program of a non-governmental organization. Is there any information that the Deputy Speaker has gone out of the country? What is the program of the parliament? Is it possible to go to the program of an NGO using a diplomatic passport or not?' He said, 'Other MPs have been stopped because they are not allowed. If it is used by the Secretariat, it is misuse. All activities of Parliament should be transparent. The House should be informed about this.' 

Protests in Parliament

During Wednesday's session of the House of Representatives, during emergency time and zero time, MPs criticized the signature campaign by Congress and UML to remove Deputy Speaker Indira Rana. Their comment is that the Congress and UML are trying to remove Deputy Speaker Rana to impose a two-party system and lure the smaller parties.

Main opposition Maoist MP Shakti Basnet said that running a signature campaign against Deputy Speaker Rana, who is abroad, cannot be accepted under any circumstances. A signature campaign is underway against the Deputy Speaker who is abroad. This treatment of socially active women is neither favorable to inclusion nor socially favorable. It is not even democratic. Stop this kind of autocratic and vindictive behavior,” he said.

Independent MP Amresh Kumar Singh, who is supporting the government, asked the smaller political parties to consider the removal of Deputy Speaker Rana. He said that pressure was created on small political parties through the government and courts. "Two big parties are working to oppress the small ones in the name of two-party system of governance, whether it is RSVP or JSP Nepal. They are trying to remove someone from the position of Deputy Speaker, trying to imprison someone by influencing the court. There will be no democracy if there are only two parties left in the country.'

Singh said that the Supreme Court's order to investigate Jaspa Nepal president Upendra Yadav in the murder case in Rautahat 14 years ago was a result of political influence in the court. The influence of political parties in the judiciary is increasing. The biggest threat to Nepal's justice system and democracy is coming from there," he said.

RSVP chief whip Santosh Pariyar commented that the attempt to remove Deputy Speaker Rana from the post was an attack on the system by the executive. He said that actions are being taken to hurt Parliament from the Prime Minister's residence. The kind of demonstration that took place in Baluwatar and Sinha Darbar yesterday has hurt the honorable House. The level of devaluing of a responsible position like the Deputy Speaker of the respected House by those who have inherited the legacy of democracy is the biggest threat to democracy, he said.

Pariyar also asked the members of the House of Representatives to take decisions with discretion and reflect on their abilities. Who is creating a threat to democracy? Who is devaluing democracy?', he said, 'Congress and UML leaders who are devaluing the post of Deputy Speaker and are always chasing them should be serious. This country needs the coming generations, this democracy needs the thousands of generations to come. Do not attack the system for your vested interests.'

The RPP has accused the Congress and UML of removing the deputy speaker in order to appoint the Asepase to get the majority of the ruling coalition in the Constitutional Council. RPP MP Roshan Karki also warned Congress and UML MPs on behalf of the party. "Congress and UML have corrected their MPs on blank paper. What kind of party to make it right? What kind of honorable? "Damn it," she said, "You are doing business on your home minister's visit visa, will you save it?" The Deputy Speaker has only made a recommendation, that too to move the time of the interview forward.