After India and China agreed to open the Lipulekh route for the Kailash Mansarovar Yatra without informing Nepal, Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) MP Ganesh Parajuli protested in the House of Representatives meeting on 13 Bhadra 2082. Since that area belongs to Nepal, he even called the then Prime Minister KP Sharma Oli to the parliament and demanded a joint commitment.

Parajuli had said at that time, ‘The agreement made between India and China to use the Lipulekh route without Nepal’s participation is illegal in terms of international law.’ But the people have asked questions. Why is the Nepal government silent? Why is the government delaying such a sensitive issue?’

Eight months later, on 18 Baisakh, the Indian Ministry of External Affairs issued a statement announcing that the Kailash Mansarovar Yatra would be conducted in coordination with the Chinese government. Currently, the House of Representatives was formed after the elections on 21 Falgun. Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh’s Parajuli is still an MP. He is still in the position of deputy leader of the parliamentary party. Meanwhile, he spoke in parliament on 29 Baisakh but did not mention Lipulekh. Other MPs of the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Party are also silent on this issue.

Alleging that the then Home Minister Ramesh Lekhak was involved in the visit visa case, the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Party had been obstructing the House of Representatives since 13 Jestha 2082, demanding the formation of a parliamentary or judicial investigation committee. Ignoring the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Party's well-placed gherao, the then Speaker Devraj Ghimire moved forward the agenda of the House of Representatives from 2 Ashad 2082. Rashtriya Swayamsevak Party MPs have been obstructing the parliament session by wearing blue scarves since 3 Ashad. The then Congress Chief Whip Shyam Kumar Ghimire objected, saying that coming wearing scarves in such a way would be against the rules and dignity of the parliament. While obstructing the parliament, the RSP MPs used to sit in the well, read books and magazines, and chant slogans like ‘Maintain parliamentary dignity.’

The RSP, which is leading the government this time, has almost two-thirds of the representation in the House of Representatives. DP Aryal, who sat in the well of the parliament 11 months ago, is the Speaker. While all the opposition parties were protesting in the house, he not only ran the house, but also got the bill passed.

Ignoring the opposition party’s demand that the Prime Minister answer the questions raised by the lawmakers on policies and programs, Speaker Aryal asked the Finance Minister to answer. Speaker Aryal even warned the Prime Minister, including Hark Sampang, the chairman of the Shram Sanskriti Party, who were demanding a ‘ruling’ to answer the questions raised by the people by appearing in the parliament. The warning was given after they protested by showing placards in the parliament.

In the Thursday meeting of the House of Representatives, the main opposition Congress was protesting standing, while the UML, CPN, Shram Sanskriti Party and RPP were in the well. While slogans were being raised demanding the maintenance of parliamentary dignity and implementation of the rules, Speaker Aryal called Finance Minister Swarnim Wagle to the rostrum and allowed him to present a proposal to pass the 'Alternative Development Finance Mobilization Bill, 2082'. The bill was then passed by a majority.

On Thursday itself, the agenda in the House of Representatives was for the Prime Minister to present a proposal to 'consider' three bills. On behalf of the Prime Minister, Minister for Law, Justice and Parliamentary Affairs Sobita Gautam presented a proposal to consider the House of Representatives Member Election (First Amendment) Bill, the Voters' Roll (First Amendment) Bill and the National Forensic Science Laboratory (Establishment and Operation) Bill. Time was fixed for a principled discussion on all these three bills, but due to obstruction, no MP was able to speak.

UML parliamentary party leader Ram Bahadur Thapa's statement on 29 Baisakh was raised by Rashtriya Swayamsevak Party MP Manish Khanal. The Speaker stopped Khanal when he stood up while Thapa was speaking. Khanal sat down only after he requested him to sit down twice, saying, 'I will give him time to speak only after Thapa has spoken.' After Thapa spoke, Khanal said, 'While practicing parliamentary decency and discipline, many things have come up that are objectionable.' He had demanded that everything Thapa said be removed from the parliament's record. Whereas in parliament, only unparliamentary words/terminology should be removed.

These examples show how the budget session of the House of Representatives, which has been going on since 28 Baisakh, is going on. After being established in Asad 2079, the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Party now has almost two-thirds, or 182 seats, in the House of Representatives.

The meeting of the House of Representatives under the budget session lasted for eight days from 28 Baisakh to 7 Jestha. The RSP MPs, who spoke during the emergency, zero and special hours of these meetings, have hesitated to raise burning issues of the country and hold the government accountable. They seem confused even in parliamentary practice. The opposition parties, Congress, UML, NCP, Shram Sanskriti and RPP, have appeared aggressive.

The first meeting of the House of Representatives this time was postponed on 30 Baisakh due to obstruction by the opposition parties. The meeting was postponed twice due to protests that Prime Minister Balendra Shah was not present during the discussion on policies and programs. In the third meeting, Finance Minister Wagle answered the questions of the MPs on policies and programs on behalf of the Prime Minister amid the boycott and obstruction of the opposition.

The next day, the first meeting on 31 Baisakh was also postponed due to obstruction by the opposition. The first meeting on 5th Jestha was adjourned due to the absence of the Finance Minister in the pre-budget discussion. The first meeting of the parliament on 7th Jestha was adjourned due to the opposition's protest, demanding a question-and-answer session with the Prime Minister. Speaker Aryal adjourned the meeting and went to meet Prime Minister Shah, but the Prime Minister was not sure that he would come to the parliament. The bill was passed in the second meeting on 7th Jestha amid well gherao and protests. The next meeting has been scheduled for 12th Jestha.

The opposition is seen raising its voice on all social issues in the parliament. They are questioning the displacement of squatter settlements without a management plan, the details of the minister's assets, and the transactions of former Home Minister Sudhan Gurung. They have also objected to Prime Minister Shah ignoring the parliament and not answering the questions of the MPs on policies and programs, the recommendation of the Chief Justice by the Constitutional Council by violating the precedence, and the promulgation of an ordinance by adjourning the already called parliament session.

The ruling Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) MPs are silent on these issues. Some of the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) MPs have raised questions, but only about their constituencies. In the previous House of Representatives, even when there was a small presence, the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) MPs used to raise national issues vigorously.

The reason why the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) MPs did not speak on national issues in the House may be because of power, fear of losing their benefits, and infighting within the party: Raksha Bam, Gen-G activist Gen-G activist Raksha Bam says that the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) MPs may not have spoken on national issues due to fear or greed of the government's power. 'It seems that the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) MPs have not raised national issues in the House. It seems that they did not want to speak on the issue of the squatters. They should have spoken on the ordinance issue as well,' she said. 'The reason why the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) MPs did not speak on national issues in the House may be because of power.' They may be afraid to speak up for fear of losing their benefits. They may even be in trouble within the party.'

The RSP should have been freed from the parliamentary culture of the old parties, which covered up the government's work when they were in power and dug up various issues when they were on the opposition bench, but this did not happen: Khimlal Devkota, former MP and senior advocate Former MP and senior advocate Khimlal Devkota says that the RSP should have been freed from the parliamentary culture of the old political parties, which covered up all the government's work when they were in power and dug up various issues when they were on the opposition bench. The RSP was expected to practice new parliamentary culture, but he says that it has not been seen in the initial stages. 'Basically, the problem is culture.' The second problem is the chair,' he said, 'There is a belief that when you are in power, you should cover up everything you can and when you are in opposition, you should dig up what is/is not there.' By breaking this belief, both the ruling and opposition parties in the parliament will hold the government accountable.'

Opposition parties have sharply criticized the government due to the Speaker not ruling in the absence of the Prime Minister in the parliament. The Prime Minister should stand up in the house and answer the questions of the MPs: Radheshyam Adhikari, former MP and senior advocate Former MP and senior advocate Radheshyam Adhikari says that the opposition parties have sharply criticized the government due to the Prime Minister's absence in the parliament, neglect of the parliament, and the Speaker not ruling. 'Policies and programs belong to the Prime Minister. They are passed by the Council of Ministers. In the parliamentary system we have adopted, the Prime Minister will answer for this. The Prime Minister has given the responsibility of tabling bills or other parliamentary work to other ministers,' he said. 'No minister can replace the Prime Minister. Therefore, the Prime Minister should stand in the House and answer the questions of the MPs.'

The rules have given the Speaker the authority to start and end the meeting in the House of Representatives, to allow MPs to sit, speak, set the time of the meeting, and to discuss/not discuss the issues, and to remove the things that have been said. The Speaker also has the authority to call and who to call in the House of Representatives meeting. The Speaker is the supreme authority of the House. 'A person who has reached the position of Speaker should leave the party hat and play an impartial role according to the responsibilities of the position. The Speaker has immense authority in the House of Representatives rules,' said senior advocate Adhikari, 'Generally, the Speaker does not meet the Prime Minister. Ruling is enough.' You can rule that the Prime Minister should be present within five days.'

When asked by Kantipur why the work of holding a parliament session and passing the bill was done amidst opposition, Speaker Aryal replied, 'As the Speaker, I am clear that we should engage all the opposition parties in dialogue, discuss and respect their rights as much as possible. We have discussed the bill. If we move on to other issues and do not move forward on the agenda after the opposition parties object, it will not help in making laws. Our current need is to make as many necessary laws as possible.'

Speaker Aryal says that there should be adequate discussions on the opposition's issues in the House of Representatives' Business Advisory Committee and that the opposition should not obstruct the making of laws. 'When we say we should discuss the Business Advisory Committee, they do not communicate. There was no question of the Speaker not sitting down because the opposition did not communicate. We should take forward the programs on the agenda, and not get confused with the people's issues.'

RSVP MP and party spokesperson Manish Jha says that it is not yet time to evaluate from both the opposition and the government's perspective. 'Not even 10 meetings have been held in the House of Representatives.' It has not even been two months since the government was formed,' he said, 'Let's wait for some time. RSVP MPs have not come after a long political practice. The new government formed after political change takes time to become organized in a transitional situation.' He says that analytical comments should be made on RSVP MPs only after a certain period of time.

Toshima Karki, an MP elected from Lalitpur-3, says that she is questioning ministers on national issues and getting commitments. 'MPs have also raised the issue in the parliamentary committee. We asked how students from squatter settlements are managed in schools.' The government is working,' she said, 'It has not even been 100 days since the government was formed. It is managing the problems seen. We are taking the government's word in internal discussions. We are calling the minister and demanding answers.'

Parliamentary party deputy leader Parajuli says that instead of raising the issue of squatters in parliament, the RSP MPs are going to the holding center to understand their situation. He also said that the government is working at a fast pace by bringing an ordinance.

Deputy leader Parajuli claims that the RSP MPs have been responsible and have followed parliamentary etiquette more than other new political parties. 'It has been seen that some parties have not followed the rules in parliament,' he said. 'Even when the dignity of the House is being tarnished every day, the RSP MPs have kept some things to themselves and have followed parliamentary etiquette without saying anything.'

RSP MPs are also getting confused in parliamentary practice. MP Sushant Vaidhik had raised objections to the remarks made by opposition party MPs on 29 Baisakh. He had demanded that it be removed from the record, saying that while criticizing the government, it was compared to issues like ‘Hitler and gas chambers’. But the Speaker has not taken action accordingly.

Former Secretary of the National Assembly Rajendra Phuyal says that objections should be raised if there are expressions in Parliament that go against social etiquette and undermine parliamentary dignity. ‘Questions are being raised about the terminology used in Parliament. Since Parliament is a very dignified place, social etiquette is sought,’ he said, ‘There is a history in the history of Parliament where things said by the incumbent Prime Minister had to be removed from the record.’ The word ‘nimchara’, which was used by the then Prime Minister KP Sharma Oli while addressing from the rostrum in 2076, was removed from the record of Parliament by the then Speaker Krishna Bahadur Mahara.

On 28 Baisakh, Prime Minister Shah left the meeting hall while President Ram Chandra Poudel was presenting the government's policy and program for the upcoming fiscal year in a joint meeting of the Federal Parliament. He was not present when the President was dismissed. All opposition parties, including opposition leader Bhishma Raj Angdembe, protested that this behavior shown by Prime Minister Shah was 'unparliamentary'. Prime Minister Shah was criticized outside the parliament as well. The RSP MPs did not say anything in the house on the issue. Instead, RSP MP Rajni Shrestha said that the Prime Minister was criticized and demanded that the program be stopped.

Advocate and Gen-G activist Arnab Chaudhary says that the RSP MPs who should question the government are coming to the defense without knowing the content. 'The government and the parliament are different. The MPs are looking for answers. They should understand that they are not the government, but MPs and should ask questions,' he said, 'but the RSP MPs are spending 5 minutes praising the government while speaking for 6 minutes.'

RSP MPs are raising issues of their constituencies in emergency and zero time. During zero time on 29 Baisakh, Buddhi Prasad Pant objected to the use of dozers in Birgunj. Bharat Prasad Parajuli demanded the operation of the Araniko Highway and Tatopani customs. Manju Bhusal said that economic activities were halted when the capital of Lumbini was shifted from Butwal to Dang. Madhav Bahadur Thapa of Palpa had demanded budget allocation for tourism, agriculture and infrastructure development in his district. Basumaya Tamang said that attention should be paid to indigenous and original agricultural products. Rajesh Kumar Chaudhary also said that there is a problem of erosion and inundation by rivers in Rautahat-1 and Ram Binod Yadav in Dhanusha-2. Other RSP MPs also often focus on issues beyond national importance while speaking in the House.

It has been a long-standing belief that ruling party MPs do not oppose the government, but speak in support of it. But experts say that RSP MPs should put a 'break' on this belief. Senior advocate Devkota says that the belief that ruling party MPs are being whipped to prevent them from speaking on certain issues, but that they should not criticize the government, is wrong. 'The parties in government have been using formal/informal whips.' The RSP has also learned the parliamentary culture practiced by the old parties,' he said, 'The government will answer every question raised in Parliament. MPs will speak to question, warn and control the government.' Devkota says that MPs should question the government on behalf of the people, not the government.

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Opposition will not obstruct budget presentation

Opposition parties, who have been looking for Prime Minister Balendra Shah in the House of Representatives meeting since the policy and program was introduced on 28 Baisakh, are planning to adopt a ‘wait and see’ strategy in the coming days. On the one hand, the Prime Minister will not come despite all the demands and on the other hand, the opposition parties are preparing to allow the budget to be passed normally after the Speaker passed the policy and program and the bill amidst obstruction.

There is a constitutional provision to present the budget for the upcoming fiscal year in the joint meeting of the federal parliament on 15 Jestha. Vasana Thapa, the chief whip of the main opposition Nepali Congress, said that she will maintain her stance that the Prime Minister should answer the MPs but will not stop presenting the budget. ‘We will continue to raise our voice that he should come to Parliament to answer according to Rule 56 of the House of Representatives Rules,’ she said, ‘We are not in favor of stopping the budget.’ The budget is not only for the government, but also for the people.'

UML Parliamentary Party Deputy Leader Padma Aryal said that it is not mandatory for the Prime Minister to be present when presenting the upcoming meeting and budget. 'We have drawn attention to the fact that the Prime Minister must come for question and answer on one day of the first week of every month,' she said. 'The Finance Minister will present the budget on 15th Jestha, there is no mandatory role except for the presence of the Prime Minister.'

NCP Chief Whip Yubaraj Dulal said that the Speaker will demand a ruling for the Prime Minister to answer the questions of the MPs. He also informed that the party will discuss how to present the budget in Parliament before it. 'We have not discussed within the party how to present it in Parliament now. The demand that the Prime Minister should answer in Parliament according to Rule 56 (1) remains,' he said. 'The Speaker should decide the date for the Prime Minister to answer, we say he should rule.' We will raise this issue in the business committee meeting that the Speaker will call on 12 Jestha.'