Kathmandu, July 19

Speaker Onsari Gharti Magar today told Prime Minister KP Sharma Oli that she could take the agenda of passing three budget-related bills first before the agenda of the no-confidence motion against him only if the three major political parties agreed on that.

In a meeting with Oli at his residence this morning, she, according to her Press Adviser Babin Sharma, said she would put the agenda of the motion first at the House meeting scheduled for Thursday as it was already fixed. “I can change it only if the parties agreed for discussing the bills first,” she told the PM, according to Sharma.

PM Oli, according to his Press Adviser Pramod Dahal, had asked the Speaker why the agenda of bills was not being taken up before the agenda of the no-trust motion that was registered in the House after the bills were put on the list of the business schedule of the House on July 13.

Expressing displeasure at the Speaker’s move of pushing back the bills and taking the motion first, Oli urged the Speaker to play an independent role without being guided by any political party. He advised her to follow parliamentary norms.

In response, the Speaker urged the PM to take the initiative for consensus among the parties and create conducive environment for smooth functioning of the parliamentary business.

The Speaker is scheduled to hold consultations with NC President Sher Bahadur Deuba and CPN-Maoist Centre Chairperson Pushpa Kamal Dahal tomorrow to urge them to forge consensus for making the House business smooth.

After NC and CPN-MC registered the no-confidence motion against Oli on July 13, rift between the two sides has surfaced on the issue of House agenda.

While Oli wants a debate on the bills first, the NC and the CPN-MC do not want to give legitimacy to the Oli-led government by endorsing the bills before the no-trust vote sought by the NC and the CPN-MC.