KATHMANDU, JANUARY 22

With the Nepali Congress, which has 89 lawmakers in the House of Representatives and is the single largest party in the Lower House, voting in favour of Prime Minister Pushpa Kamal Dahal in the trust vote, it is not clear who will be the principal opposition party in the HoR.

Two lawmakers – Prem Suwal of the Nepal Workers and Peasants Party and Chitra Bahadur KC of the Rastriya Janamorcha, who were the only lawmakers to vote against Dahal -- have written to the Parliament Secretariat seeking to be recognised as the principal opposition, according to Spokesperson for the Parliament Secretariat Ekram Giri.

The NC also has written to the Parliament Secretariat enquiring about the facilities (pay and perks) the Leader of Opposition is entitled to. The Parliament Secretariat responded to the letter stating what facilities the Leader of Opposition is entitled to. 'The letter gave us the impression that the NC was only enquiring about facilities the principal opposition was entitled to. We responded accordingly.

It doesn't mean that the NC is the principal opposition party. The speaker will take a call on that,' Giri said.

Giri said that Section 2 of the act related to pay and perks of office bearers of the federal Parliament defines the principal opposition as the largest party among the parties that has at least 10 per cent lawmakers who have not formed the government or who have not supported any party or lawmaker to form the government.

Senior Advocate Chandra Kanta Gyawali said the law did not bar NC from becoming the principal opposition on account of its support to PM Dahal during the trust vote, but if the NC, which supported the government in the trust vote, would oppose it, it could create a question of constitutional morality.

Gyawali said that the NC could play the role of constructive opposition if it withdrew support it extended to Dahal during the vote of confidence.

'As the NC is the largest party which is not part of the government, people will expect it to criticise the government's unfair decisions and policies. Unless the NC withdraws support to the government, it cannot play the role of constructive opposition,' he said.

Gyawali said all governments had a tendency of imposing arbitrary policies and curtailing human rights and if there was no opposition, it was very likely that the government's unfair policies might go unchecked.

A version of this article appears in the print on January 23, 2023, of The Himalayan Times.