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Kathmandu Tuesday June 19, 2001 Ashadh 05, 2058.
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Budget session to
convene June 25
By Binaj Gurubacharya
KATHMANDU, June 18 - The much delayed
budget parliament session has finally been summoned by King Gyanendra
to be convened next week amid uncertainties on whether chaos will
continue its grip spilled over from the previous session.
Opposition parties, though they have
not made any formal decisions, are likely to press ahead with their
old demand for the resignation of Prime Minister Girija Prasad
Koirala.
To add to all that, Koirala, who also
holds the portfolio for Royal Palace Affairs and is a member of the
Security Council, is expected to be grilled over the June 1 massacre
of King Birendra, Queen Aishwarya and several members of the Royal
Family at the Narayanhiti Royal Palace.
"It does not look like the Prime
Minister will have an easy time this session either with new issues
and new concerns emerging now," said Lilamani Pokhrel, outspoken
lawmaker from United People’s Front. "The Prime Minister is
also the Minister for Royal Palace Affairs and the situation for him
is even worse than before."
The last winter session had prorogued
on April 4 without even conducting a single day of regular business
during the entire session traditionally known as working session,
where Bills are discussed, debated and endorsed.
Opposition parties, led by the main
opposition CPN-UML, teamed up against the Nepali Congress (NC)
government and had gheraoed the Speaker, shouted anti-Koirala slogan
stalling House proceedings and then boycotted the sitting for entire
57 days the House sat for session since it convened on February 8.
These parties were demanding the
resignation over the government’s alleged involvement in the
financial irregularities over the infamous Lauda Air deal that forced
one senior minister to quit and top officials of the state-run Royal
Nepal Airlines Corporation thrown into jail.
"We will decide within the next
4-5 days with the other opposition parties on a strategy to move
during the upcoming session," said CPN-UML’s Khadga Prasad Oli
without elaborating.
CPN-UML with 69 lawmakers in the House
of Representatives, the Lower House of Parliament, leads the
opposition pack followed by the Rastriya Prajatantra Party (RPP). RPP
and CPN-UML have already announced an alliance for the Upper House
elections and have indicated their partnership would go further than
that.
"We will be discussing with
CPN-UML on continuing the partnership during the upcoming session
too," said RPP Chairman Surya Bahadur Thapa.
CPN-UML’s powerful General Secretary
Madhav Kumar Nepal too said the two parties have teamed to alienate NC
and hoped that other parties would join hands with them.
"Our stand is to continue pressing
for the Prime Minister’s resignation and with the Royal Palace
incident there is more reasons for him to step down," said Nepal
Workers and Peasants’ Party’s lone lawmaker Narayanman Bijukhche.
The session will convene on June 25,
which is almost two months behind schedule compared to last year and
only about three weeks before the current fiscal year ends on July 15.
The fiscal budget that is usually
presented few days after the presentation of the government’s
programs and policies take at least a month and half to be discussed
and endorsed through the House.
During the time the budget is being
processed through the Parliament, an Accounts Bill is endorsed
through, allowing the government to borrow money and keep the
administration running until the fiscal budget is fully passed as
Finance Bill.
The dilemma for these political parties
in the opposition now is whether they are going to let the government
go ahead with its scheduled presentation of programs and policies and
the fiscal budget or continue to stall parliamentary proceedings
demanding the Prime Minister’s resignation.
In case they resort to the stalling
tactics, they are bound to be alleged of holding the nation hostage by
blocking the fiscal budget that could have negative effect on every
aspect in the country.
And if they do decide to let the
government move ahead, these parties who have long and hard pressed
ahead with the Lauda Air scam and now have been criticising the
high-level probe of the Royal Palace massacre, would be seen shying
away from their earlier stand. This would not appear positively on
their political resume.
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