Deputy Speaker Babita Raut Issar held a meeting in the square in the presence of MPs from the Congress, JSP Nepal, Janmat, Maoist, LSP, Unified Socialist Party and Civil Liberties Union. A large number of MPs were sitting in the square.
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Seven protesting parties held a 'parliamentary meeting' on Saturday at the Provincial Assembly Secretariat square, claiming that the Madhesh government formed under the leadership of UML leader Saroj Kumar Yadav is unconstitutional and that Speaker Ram Chandra Mandal has not behaved in a manner befitting his position.
Deputy Speaker Babita Raut Iser held a meeting in the square in the presence of MPs from Congress, JSP Nepal, Janmat, Maoist, LSP, Unified Socialist Party and Civil Liberties Union. There were a lot of MPs sitting in the square.
Deputy Speaker Iser, on the other hand, sat on a chair with a table in front. In the meeting, Deputy Speaker Iser said that the motion that Speaker Mandal had not behaved in a manner befitting his office would be moved forward. She informed that the Speaker had withdrawn the action taken against the 5 MPs who had been dismissed by him for being absent for 10 consecutive meetings.
UML has criticized the provincial assembly meeting held in the square as a 'tamasha'. Other parties represented in the provincial assembly have argued that the meeting had to be held in the square because Speaker Mandal had locked the provincial assembly meeting room and ignored the Deputy Speaker and MPs. ‘The Deputy Speaker tried to run the parliament in the meeting room,’ said Ram Ashish Yadav, chief whip of JSP Nepal, ‘but it was locked, and the employees carrying the keys were sent out of the provincial assembly.’
The agitation centered on the Madhesh Bhawan, the headquarters of the provincial government, has shifted to the provincial assembly. Mandal is accused of beating and abusing the lawmakers of seven parties who had reached the provincial assembly secretariat on Thursday afternoon to register a motion against Speaker Mandal for unbecoming conduct. Speaker Mandal, on the other hand, has been saying that he did not even meet the lawmakers of the seven parties in the deputy speaker’s office that day.
On 24 Kartik, in the wee hours of the morning, the then provincial chief Sumitra Subedi Bhandari appointed and swore in Saroj Kumar Yadav, the leader of the largest party, UML, as the chief minister in accordance with Article 168, Clause 3 of the constitution. Bhandari, who left her government residence in Janakpur citing illness, administered the oath to Chief Minister Yadav at Panas Cottage in Kalapani, Bardibas. A writ petition has been filed in the Supreme Court alleging that Yadav's appointment as Chief Minister was in violation of the law. The writ petition is scheduled to be debated in a joint session on Sunday.
Seven parties also protested near the Provincial Assembly Secretariat on Saturday. Leaders of the seven parties gathered in a hut in front of the Janakpur Fisheries Center and reached the Provincial Assembly shouting slogans. Security personnel stopped the protesters outside. Seven parties did not attend the all-party meeting called by Provincial Chief Surendra Lav Karna on Saturday to hold consultations among the parties due to the political deadlock in Madhesh since last week.
Congress Chief Whip Kunwar Kant Jha said that they will not participate in any meeting that includes the Chief Minister formed in violation of the constitution. 'I had informed the Provincial Chief in advance that I will not attend the meeting with the Chief Minister,' Jha said, 'If other UML leaders participate, we will also go to the meeting. We will know if he becomes the Chief Minister.’
Meanwhile, Chief Minister Yadav, addressing the people of the province on Saturday morning, said that he and Speaker Mandal are facing security challenges due to the agitation of the seven parties. ‘The security agencies have briefed me to go only to limited programs because of the challenges,’ said Chief Minister Yadav. ‘The security threat will come from the agitators, not from the public.’ Chief Minister Yadav had also held discussions with the security agency officials on Saturday itself.
On Thursday, the chief whips and MPs of the parliamentary parties of the seven parties submitted a motion to the provincial secretariat against Speaker Mandal for not behaving in a manner befitting his position, saying that he had party interests in the operation of the provincial assembly. During that, there was a scuffle between Speaker Mandal and the MPs. Although Deputy Speaker Raut had set a deadline for the motion, the situation there became tense after the employees of the provincial assembly secretariat delayed registering it.
The employees of the provincial assembly secretariat delayed registering the motion, saying that the office hours were over, there were no employees and the electricity supply was off. The situation there became tense after Speaker Mandal entered the Provincial Assembly Secretariat with some of his supporters at around 6 pm. After that, Speaker Mandal issued a notice that five MPs, including Urmila Devi Singh of Civil Liberties Union, Manish Kumar Suman of JSP Nepal, Sanjay Kumar Sah, Sinhasan Sah Kalwar and Sharada Shankar Prasad Kalwar, were relieved of their posts for not attending 10 regular meetings.
