HETAUDA, JUNE 24

Slated for 10 this morning, the 11th municipal assembly of Hetauda Sub-metropolitan City has been postponed until Sunday following the protest of elected local representatives representing CPN-UML.

Hetauda-4 Ward Chair Nabin Sigdel, a UML leader, accused the ruling coalition of formulating budget at their whims.

'It was unacceptable as to how the mayor and deputy mayor prepared what they call budget without holding any discussion with the members of the executive, and without discussing it in thematic committees and without putting it through the executive meeting,' said Sigdel. The local representatives from UML have also criticised and protested Mayor Mina Lama's refusal to even register an application seeking amendment to meeting procedure.

It is important to note that UML has a majority in Hetauda Sub-metropolitan City. UML has 54 Municipal Assembly members out of total assembly members at 95. Though most of the UML's local representatives were at the assembly venue, as they refuse to register their presence by putting down their signature, the assembly had to be postponed over quorum provision.

Though there had been discussion, following the UML boycott, no solution could be reached and the assembly had to be postponed. Similarly, the budget couldn't either be presented at today's meeting as it had to be postponed.

CPN (Unified Socialist)'s Mina Lama and Nepali Congress' Rajesh Baniya were elected as mayor and deputy mayor in Hetauda.

A version of this article appears in the print on June 25, 2022, of The Himalayan Times.