KATHMANDU, SEPTEMBER 23
President Bidhya Devi Bhandari certified the Appropriation Bill after it was passed by both houses of the Parliament. The bill, which was passed by the House of Representatives on September 20, was passed by the National Assembly today amidst obstruction of the House proceedings by CPN-UML lawmakers.
Passage of the bill ended the budget holiday witnessed since September 15.
Chair of National Assembly Ganesh Prasad Timilsina issued a ruling today urging Prime Minister Sher Bahadur Deuba to end obstruction in the Upper House.
CPN-UML lawmakers have been obstructing proceedings of both the houses accusing Speaker Agni Sapkota of aiding the split in the party by not confirming the expulsion of 14 UML lawmakers.
Amidst the House obstruction, NA Chairperson Timilsina allowed Minister of Finance Janardan Sharma to table the Appropriation Bill. Majority members of the Upper House then passed the bill paving the way for ending the budget holiday.
Timilsina also urged UML lawmakers to end their obstruction, but they continued to obstruct House proceedings without chanting slogans.
In the HoR, UML lawmakers swarmed the House well as soon as Sapkota commenced House proceedings. UML lawmakers chanted slogans to protest the speaker's alleged bias, following which Sapkota told them that the Parliament was the highest place to practise democracy but the continuous obstruction at a time when crucial budget related bills were being debated, could curtail democracy.
Sapkota urged UML lawmakers to end their obstruction so as to allow the House to deal with some of the major issues that the country was facing. He said since the expulsion of 14 UML lawmakers was sub judice in the Supreme Court, it could not be discussed in the House.
Amidst UML lawmakers' obstruction, the House passed two bills - Fiscal Bill and National Debt Raising Bill - related to the budget.
A version of this article appears in the print on September 24 2021, of The Himalayan Times.
