KATHMANDU, OCTOBER 28

The government today recommended that President Bidhya Devi Bhandari prorogue the current session of Parliament.

The government decided to end the current session of Parliament as the main opposition CPN-UML had been obstructing House proceedings since September 8 when the new session began.

UML has stalled House proceedings in protest of Speaker Agni Prasad Sapkota's alleged bias against it.

The government passed the revised budget amidst the UML's protest, but could not pass other bills in the House.

There are 54 bills under the consideration of the Parliament, according to Assistant Spokesperson for Parliament Secretariat Dasharath Dhamala.

Some of these bills are crucial, including citizenship bill and bills related to implementation of federalism that the Parliament needs to pass urgently.

A source at the Parliament Secretariat said that the government was likely to end the House session from tomorrow and the president was also expected to issue a notice tomorrow ending the House session.

The government could end the session of both the Houses or only the House of Representatives, according to Dhamala.

The main opposition obstructed House proceedings to protest against Speaker Agni Prasad Sapkota.

The UML had written to Speaker Sapkota urging him to confirm the expulsion of 14 UML lawmakers, including Madhav Kumar Nepal, but Sapkota did not act on its letter until the Election Commission recognised the split in the main opposition party.

Nepal split the party and opened a new party CPN (Unified Socialist).

UML has also accused Sapkota of aiding the split by not confirming the expulsion of 14 UML lawmakers. Sapkota has, however, said the issue is sub judice in the Supreme Court and cannot be discussed in the House.

A version of this article appears in the print on October 29, 2021, of The Himalayan Times.