E-Kantipur

KATHMANDU, AUG 01 -  

Dissenting voices are surfacing within the main opposition party, Nepali Congress (NC), against the party's decision to obstruct parliament proceedings. 

Influential NC leaders are learnt to have piled pressure on the party leadership to not obstruct the House indefinitely and look for other options to seek the resignation of Prime Minister Jhala Nath Khanal. 

The NC has obstructed five sittings of the parliament since Monday, demanding the resignation of the prime minister. The stalemate in convening the parliament has postponed the presentation of a report on the 'budget  leak' and endorsement of the charter of Asian Institute of Technology (AIT). 

Sources said NC leaders Ram Sharan Mahat, Chief Whip Laxman Prasad Ghimire and lawmakers Ramesh Lhekhak and Radheshyam Adhikari, among others, are against the indefinite House blockade.

They have been lobbying for resumption of the proceedings, saying that the 'indefinite' protest in the parliament would weaken the parliamentary system and benefit the UCPN (Maoist) party which wants to prove that the system is “useless.”

“Nepali Congress, which has traditionally been a party that believes in the parliamentary system, should not practice the culture of blocking the parliament. It should use the House as a platform to pressure the government to work for the people,” Lhekhak said. Sharing his 'personal opinion,' he said the NC should allow the submission of the report prepared by a parliamentary committee on last month's 'budget leak.'

The Ghimire-led parliamentary committee submitted its report to Speaker Subas Nembang, concluding that Finance Minister Bharat Mohan Adhikari and Finance Secretary Krishna Hari Banskota were to blame for the dissemination of the contents of the budget. “The Congress would have asked a serious moral question to finance minister had the report been tabled in the House,” an official at the Parliament Secretariat said. 

The delay to endorse the AIT charter has ended chances of Nepal being selected a member of the governing council of the high profile international educational institution. Pakistan was selected the fifth member of the governing council after Nepal failed to endorse the charter within the stipulated time frame.

Ghimire and UML lawmaker Brinda Pandey are alumnus of the Thailand-based institution.

NC leaders admit that their protest in the House is not strong enough to pressure the government. They say the passage of the advance expenditure bill puts the government in a comfortable position because it can move ahead freely unless one-third of the budget is spent.

Amid the dynamics in the NC, the next parliament session is convening on Tuesday afternoon where the party will continue the protest programme. NC President Sushil Koirala on Monday reiterated that his party will go ahead with the obstruction until Khanal steps down.

Posted on: 2011-08-02 03:18

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