KATHMANDU: Prime Minister Balendra Shah (Balen) is set to appear before the House of Representatives today to respond directly to questions submitted by lawmakers.
The question-and-answer session has been included in the agenda of today’s HoR meeting, scheduled for August 26. According to the Parliament Secretariat, 11 lawmakers have submitted questions for the Prime Minister.
The House allows a maximum of 15 questions for the session. The ruling Rastriya Swatantra Party (RSP), which has been allocated seven questions, has registered only three. Lawmakers representing other parties have submitted questions within the quotas allocated to them.
RSP lawmakers Amaresh Kumar Singh, Krishnahari Budhathoki and Samiksha Baskota are among those who have submitted questions. From the Nepali Congress, Basana Thapa and Geeta Gurung have registered questions, while Ain Bahadur Mahar and Ganesh Singh Thagunna have done so from the CPN-UML.
Barshaman Pun and Pramesh Hamal have registered questions on behalf of the Nepali Communist Party (NCP). Harkaraj Rai of the Shram Sanskriti Party and Khushbu Oli of the Rastriya Prajatantra Party have also submitted questions.
Speaker Dol Prasad Aryal had set August 21 as the deadline for lawmakers to submit their questions after announcing the Prime Minister’s question-and-answer session.
The Speaker had instructed Shah at the House meeting on August 17 to attend the session and respond to lawmakers in line with the parliamentary rules.
The directive came amid continued protests by opposition lawmakers over remarks Shah made in Parliament on May 31 regarding encroachment of each other’s territory by Nepal and India. Opposition lawmakers had repeatedly disrupted House proceedings over the remarks.
The House Rules of Procedure provide for a monthly question-and-answer session with the Prime Minister during the first week of each month. However, the provision has not been implemented regularly, prompting the Speaker to direct Shah to attend today’s session and answer the questions registered by lawmakers.
