Prime Minister Balendra Shah is being criticized for his unusual style of work in Parliament. In a democracy, the Prime Minister should be accountable to Parliament, and concerns have been expressed that his activities will erode the dignity of Parliament. 

Prime Minister Shah has not addressed the House of Representatives in two sessions in the one and a half months since the government was formed. Not only political circles and experts in parliamentary practice, but also the general public were surprised when the newly appointed Prime Minister Shah did not address the first Parliament meeting held on 19 Chaitra after the House of Representatives elections. President Ram Chandra Poudel showed even more unusual behavior when he was presenting the policies and programs for the upcoming fiscal year in the joint meeting of the Federal Parliament on Monday. 

The Prime Minister left the meeting about 50 minutes after Poudel began presenting the policies and programs. He did not attend even when the President was bid farewell after the policy and program was read out. Prime Minister Shah did not make any statement even while tabling the motion of thanks to the President in the House of Representatives. The government or his secretariat have not made public any reason as to why Prime Minister Shah left the meeting while the President was reading out the policy and program. 

As it is the parliamentary practice and the House of Representatives rules that the Prime Minister will answer questions raised by lawmakers during discussions on policy and program, lawmakers had expected Prime Minister Shah to address the parliament on Wednesday. 'Routine of Nepal Bandh', which is considered close to Prime Minister Shah, had posted a notice on Wednesday morning that 'Prime Minister Balen Shah will answer questions raised on policy and program in the House of Representatives meeting today.' 

Prime Minister Shah had reached his office in Singha Durbar before 9 am. He had called a cabinet meeting at 11 am. Even after the cabinet meeting ended, he attended various meetings of the Prime Minister's Office. The vehicle he was travelling in was at the Prime Minister's Office throughout the day. But Prime Minister Shah did not attend the ongoing parliament meeting. He had authorized Finance Minister Swarnim Wagle to submit and respond to the proposal in parliament. He had also sent written information about it to the parliament through the Speaker. 

As soon as the agenda for the debate on policies and programs entered the agenda of the Wednesday meeting, lawmakers from the Congress, UML, NCP, Shram Sanskriti Party, and RPP stood up and protested. They demanded that Prime Minister Shah be present during the discussion on the government's policies and programs and answer the questions of the lawmakers. The opposition party had requested Speaker DP Aryal to rule to make the Prime Minister present in the House. 

Bhishma Raj Angdembe, the parliamentary party leader of the main opposition Congress, had repeatedly demanded that Prime Minister Shah be ruled to be present during the discussion on policies and programs, listen to them, and answer them. UML Chief Whip Ain Bahadur Mahar and NCP Chief Whip Yubaraj Dulal had also repeated the same demand. 

Shram Sanskriti Party Chairman Harkaraj Rai was saying, 'The Prime Minister should resign. Is this a government without a Prime Minister? Is there a Prime Minister who does not address the people and the country once?' After that, he boycotted the Parliament meeting. Along with this, all members of the Shram Sanskriti Party walked out of the meeting.

Outside the Parliament building, Shram Sanskriti Party Chief Whip Aren Rai said, "The Prime Minister gave the policy and program to the President. The President read it out. But the Prime Minister did not come today. Today, the Prime Minister had to answer all the MPs. Answering the MPs means answering the people's questions. Escaping accountability means sending a message that the Prime Minister is not fit to run the country."

Speaker Aryal, however, refused to rule, saying that there is no provision in the House of Representatives Rules, 2079 BS for the Prime Minister to be present and answer during the discussion on the policy and program. He said, "Since the head of government was unable to attend, another cabinet minister has been sent with written information and the table has been set. We are at the stage where we need to discuss it. Opposition MPs have proposed amendments. They are waiting to see how the debate on such an important issue will be held in the House." Speaker Aryal did not mention the reason for the head of government's failure to come. 

RSP Chief Whip Kavindra Burlakoti, however, was arguing that there is no mandatory provision in the House of Representatives rules that the Prime Minister must be present. ‘There is no provision in the rules that the Prime Minister must come. There is a provision that the Prime Minister can designate a minister,’ he said, ‘Either you had to say yes to see the Prime Minister’s face, or else the issue that has already been tabled should be discussed. He did not say whether to allow it to be tabled or not to allow it to be discussed.’

Burlakoti commented that the demand for the Prime Minister’s presence was unnecessary. ‘Since the general public sent us with great hope and trust, the House should not be obstructed on such an unnecessary issue. It is not just about emotions and the old way of life, we have come to break many old things and create new ones,’ he said.

Other RSP MPs also defended the Prime Minister’s absence. ‘The Prime Minister has adopted what is in the (House of Representatives) rules, he has not gone beyond that,’ said Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) MP Ranju Darshana. ‘It was not better to protest for the sake of protest than to adjourn the meeting and have the Speaker call them in and have a dialogue with the Prime Minister on his behalf and decide what their role will be in the future.’

Another Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) MP Rajiv Khatri argued that the old political parties have continued the tradition and culture of obstructing the parliament. ‘Policies and programs are also issues that are linked to the Finance Minister. If there is a competent Finance Minister, he will answer for it,’  Khatri said, ‘The sky will not fall if the Prime Minister is not present today.’

After continuous protests from opposition parties, he has adjourned the House of Representatives meeting till 11 am on Thursday. It was already 5:30 pm when the parliament meeting was adjourned. Prime Minister Shah had returned to Baluwatar from his office in Singha Durbar around 4:30 pm. 

According to analysts, since the government is accountable to the people through parliament in parliamentary practice, the presence of the Prime Minister is seen as important at some important moments. But they say that Shah did not show up on Wednesday and did not take into account parliamentary tradition and the dignity of the parliament. 

Former MP Laxman Lal Karna says that the Prime Minister should be present in the parliament and act according to the established system. ‘The policies and programs are the Prime Minister’s, the President has only read them out. Therefore, one should sit in the meeting, and if there is a discussion, one should listen. The ministry takes notes. The Prime Minister should give answers,’ he said. 

Shah became the Prime Minister in the elections held on 21 Falgun after the Gen-G movement changed the landscape of Nepali politics. He was elected as the mayor of Kathmandu Metropolitan City as an independent candidate in 2079 and joined party politics only last December. He joined party politics by reaching a 7-point agreement with Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) President Ravi Lamichhane on 13 December. 

The Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) had presented Shah as the prime ministerial candidate in the elections. Some had also commented on it as the ‘presidentialization of the parliamentary system’. Some analysts say that Prime Minister Shah’s way of running the government is becoming similar to the ‘presidential system’. 

After the RSS won about two-thirds of the seats in the House of Representatives, it was expected that the functioning of the House would be smooth. Because the RSSS had been protesting against the frequent disruptions in the House in the past. There was concern in civil society and the general public that the government would not be held accountable due to the weak presence of opposition parties in the House of Representatives. But the reason for the disruption and adjournment of the House of Representatives meeting throughout the day on Wednesday was the Prime Minister Shah, who was elected by the RSSS. 

Former MP Laxman Lal, who is also a member of the Constituent Assembly, says, ‘It is difficult for parties to achieve a majority in this electoral system, but now the RSSS has two-thirds of the seats. This power has come with responsibility. Power should not be treated with arrogance. People are seeing things that he does not think about.’ Emphasizing the need to understand the practice and tradition of parliament, he added, ‘Tradition is also law in parliament.’ 

There has been criticism not only of the Prime Minister’s style of work presented in the parliament meeting but also of some of the government’s steps. There have been continuous voices in parliament saying that squatters and unorganized settlers in various parts of the country, including the Kathmandu Valley, were abruptly removed without following the procedure. Squatters and unorganized settlers on the banks of the Kathmandu River were removed by force of security personnel.

The Prime Minister is also being criticized for the recommendation made by the Constitutional Council for the Chief Justice. There is criticism for recommending Justice Manoj Kumar Sharma, who is ranked fourth, contrary to the judicial tradition of recommending based on seniority. The most senior and acting Chief Justice Sapna Pradhan Malla had made a public statement that tradition was broken in order for the executive to interfere in the judiciary. 

Similarly, the government is also being criticized for adjourning the parliament session called by the President and amending about 150 laws by bringing eight ordinances. 

Constitutional scholar and senior advocate Bhimarjun Acharya said that the issue of the Prime Minister being accountable to the parliament and adopting parliamentary values ​​is not voluntary but mandatory. ‘It is sad that the Prime Minister is not accountable to the parliament. An important issue of the parliamentary system of governance that we have adopted is accountability,’ he said. ‘Since the Prime Minister is born from the parliament, he should be accountable to the parliament.’ 

Acharya also said that the Prime Minister does not have the freedom to not answer. ‘Policies and programs belong to the government and are led by the Prime Minister. "It is unnatural to stand up and walk away while the policy and program are being read out and not to respond, it is also contempt for the parliament," he said. "It is also unnatural for the Prime Minister not to attend the discussion on the policy and program."

Gen-G activist Raksha Bam says that the fact that Prime Minister Shah left the parliament meeting while the policy and program were being presented and did not attend the parliament meeting where the discussion was taking place has raised the question of whether it is not a game that weakens democracy. "I think the Prime Minister's activity is a suspicious step that weakens democracy. It is an expression of the feeling that I am the state," she said.

Bam says that the main responsibility for protecting democracy now lies with the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) MPs. "RSS MPs should speak out on this issue. If Shah cannot be made the prime minister, I will make him the prime minister, the RSS MPs have the right to say, I should be the prime minister, I should have the courage. I should have been able to ask questions. I should have challenged. If he does not answer, I should have said that we are," she said.

RPP parliamentary party leader Gyan Bahadur Shahi reminded that the RPP had protested in the previous parliament demanding the presence of the Prime Minister in the parliament. He said that Prime Minister Shah was sitting in the Prime Minister's Office next to the parliament building while the meeting was going on. 'Prime Minister Shah is sitting in Singha Durbar, wearing dark glasses. We are looking for answers in the parliament,' he said, 'that Prime Minister Shah should have said that he was not the Prime Minister elected by the parliament. Otherwise, he should have come to the parliament.'