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Kathmandu, Thursday, November 18, 1999 Marga 02nd, 2056.
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NPC
means business now
-By a Post Reporter
KATHMANDU, Nov 17 - The
main opposition CPN-UML today decided to call a special session of
parliament to discuss the recent price hikes in fuel and electricity.
The party’s central
committee decided to ask the party’s parliamentary department to
begin preparing for the session, coordinating with other opposition
parties. The party’s spokesman and central member Pradip Nepal told
The Kathmandu Post that the meeting today discussed the steep hike in
prices of diesel, kerosene, electricity and fertilizer and would begin
protest programmes, both on the streets and in the parliament.
"Our main purpose
of seeking the special session is to draw the attention of the
government and demand that the government withdraw its decision to
increase the prices," Nepal said. The government had increased
the prices of diesel by 48 percent, kerosene by 23 percent and
electricity charges by 30 percent in the past few weeks.
Nepal said it would
take at least 15 to 20 days before the session is called and the
central committee meeting on Thursday would decide on when they will
file the petition with His Majesty the King seeking the session.
This would be the first
time in the post democracy years that a special session would be
called to discuss an issue that does not involve government ouster or
formation.
In the past, all such
sessions have been called to either file motion of no-confidence or to
remove governments, and most of them during 1995-1999 when shaky
coalition governments ruled the country. Some of these governments
during that period lasted as low as six months.
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