• Altogether, the House passed 84 bills and failed to pass 20
• Cabinet expansion within bounds of the constitution, says PM

Kathmandu, October 14

The Parliament was dissolved at midnight.

As per the constitutional provision, the term of the Parliament ends a day before candidates file their nomination for House of Representatives elections. Political parties will be submitting the names of their Proportional Representation candidates to the Election Commission tomorrow.

On the last day of its term, the Parliament held a farewell meeting. The Parliament Secretariat also hosted a reception in honour of outgoing lawmakers.

The Constituent Assembly formed after the 2013 elections doubled as the Parliament, but after promulgation of the constitution on 20 September 2015, the CA had transformed into Parliament.

Addressing the farewell meeting of the Parliament, Prime  Minister Sher Bahadur Deuba said he was within the bounds of the constitution when he expanded the Cabinet. “I thank the president for not being incited  by anybody and accepting my decision to expand the Cabinet,” the PM said. He added that the strength of the Cabinet might decrease in future. “If the number is reduced, you will know within two to four days,” he said.

He said parties did not oppose when he had expanded the Cabinet ahead of the second phase of local polls. Therefore, they should not oppose the expansion now.

Stating that Chief Election Commissioner Ayodhi Prasad Yadav had said expansion of the Cabinet would not affect elections, the PM said lawmakers should not harbour doubts regarding the upcoming polls.

Addressing the farewell meeting of the Parliament, UML Chair KP Sharma Oli wondered why the PM had inducted eight more ministers when the number of the ministers had already reached 56. He said the expansion was in violation of the election code of conduct.

CPN-MC Chair Pushpa Kamal Dahal deplored the fact that the PM had not trusted him when he assured him after forging the left alliance that he would not seek a change of guard. He said political forces were misinforming that the  decision to forge the left alliance was an attempt to establish communist rule in the country.