Accuses them of defection for joining Oli-led CPN-UML
KATHMANDU, APRIL 6
The CPN-Maoist Centre today complained to the Parliament Secretariat that four of its lawmakers had defected to Prime Minister KP Sharma Oli's CPN- UML and sought their removal from the Parliament.
CPN-MC Parliamentary Party Leader Pushpa Kamal Dahal wrote a letter to Secretary General of the Parliament seeking action against Top Bahadur Rayamajhi, Lekharaj Bhatta, Prabhu Sah, and Gauri Shankar Chaudhary as per Sections 31 and 32 (1) (b) of the constitution.
As per the constitution, if a representative defects from the mother party, then the post held by him/her will be automatically deemed vacant from the date the representative quits the mother party.
Dahal complained that after the nullification of the unification between the CPN-UML and CPN-MC, these four lawmakers, who were supposed to represent his party, were taking part in the CPN-UML's political programmes and had also accepted to become members of the UML's central committee.
All four are ministers in Oli's Cabinet.
Dahal said he had asked them to quit Oli's government, but they refused to do so. The CPN- MC had sought explanation from the four lawmakers, but only Sah furnished a reply. Even his reply was 'not satisfactory'.
Dahal has attached his party's decision to expel the four lawmakers from general membership of the CPN-MC.
Spokesperson for the Parliament Secretariat Rojnath Pandey said Speaker Agni Prasad Sapkota would have to take a call on the fate of four lawmakers. He said the speaker would announce in the House if they were expelled for defection.
CPN-MC Chief Whip Dev Prasad Gurung told THT that the party had taken similar action against Home Minister Ram Bahadur Thapa, who represented the party in the National Assembly.
A similar letter seeking action against him for defection would be sent to the Parliament Secretariat in a day or two.
Rayamajhi and Bhatta had earlier said that they would not return to the CPN-MC even if they had to lose their seats in the House of Representatives. Rayamajhi, Bhatta, Sah, and Chaudhary were elected to the HoR in the last general election under the first-past-the-post election system.
Rayamajhi is minister of energy, water resources, and irrigation; Bhatta is minister of industry, commerce, and supplies; Sah is urban development minister, and Chaudhary is minister of labour, employment, and social security.
A version of this article appears in the print on April 7, 2021, of The Himalayan Times.
