KATHMANDU, OCTOBER 7
Nepali Congress Member of Parliament Ishwari Devi Neupane has stressed the need to end the practice of protesting by disrupting the Parliament.
However, criticism and questioning from both sides of the House while maintaining parliamentary supremacy and dignity is the beautiful aspect of democracy.
MP Neupane said, "It is important to raise voice in the Parliament because if a mistake has been committed then it can be corrected. We must ask legitimate questions." She said narrating her experience of having to face pressure outside the Parliament after she called for fair investigation into the fake Bhutanese refugees scam. "We should all be aware of the conspiracy to hold the Parliament hostage under any pretext," she added.
Expressing her dissatisfaction with the work of the Parliament so far, MP Neupane said, "Even just looking at the number of laws being formulated, there is plenty of room to question the effectiveness of the Parliament. Every parliamentarian should share the blame for the Parliament not being able to fulfil its responsibilities.
As an MP, I also consider myself responsible for this," she said, adding, "The first responsibility is to fulfil the duty that we have come with."
MP Neupane said, "Political parties should not always protest when they are in the opposition and not always become defensive when they are in the ruling side. The mindset that the opposition must oppose the work done by the ruling party is wrong. There are also examples of support for the policies and programmes brought by the government when the Nepali Congress was in the opposition."
Stating that there are huge expectations from the MPs even though many powers have gone to the local level, she said many dreams shown during the elections was also a reason for it. "People believe that even small development infrastructure such as roads, streams and canals will be built by the MPs," she said.
Neupane said Constituency Infrastructure Development Programme was necessary for implementation of the concept of inclusive development and to fulfil the development aspirations of citizens. "People have expectations from MPs as they had made promises during polls," she said.
A version of this article appears in the print on October 8, 2023, of The Himalayan Times
