UML chair tells speaker a fresh process to reach a new consensus required

Kathmandu, December 8

Speaker Onsari Gharti Magar separately held talks with Nepali Congress President Sher Bahadur Deuba and CPN-UML Chair KP Sharma Oli in her attempt to end House obstruction but failed to bridge gap between the two leaders.

The speaker is scheduled to hold talks with Prime Minister Pushpa Kamal Dahal tomorrow on the issue.

According to Magar’s Press Secretary Babin Sharma, both leaders stuck to their parties’ positions.

Talking to mediapersons outside the meeting venue in Singha Durbar, Oli said the speaker wanted to see an end to House obstruction and wished that important issues be debated in the House. Oli said he told the speaker that if the government withdrew the constitution amendment bill and started a fresh process to reach a new consensus, House obstruction would end.

The CPN-UML and three other communist parties — CPN-ML, Nepal Workers’ and Peasants’ Party and Rastriya Janamorcha — have been stalling the House proceedings since the government registered the constitution amendment bill, terming it against the constitution and interests of the nation.

“There will be no obstacle in moving the process further if the government withdraws its proposal to amend the constitution and fresh consensus is forged,” Oli added.

Earlier, talking briefly to mediapersons in Singha Durbar after his meeting with the speaker, NC President Deuba told mediapersons that he discussed the constitution amendment bill with the speaker and he hoped that the obstruction would not last long.

According to Sharma, Deuba told the speaker that the UML should help pass the constitution amendment bill. “Although both leaders stuck to their parties’ position, they agreed to hold discussions so as to resolve the crisis,” Sharma said.

Sharma said the Speaker told both leaders that obstructing the House proceedings would stall important businesses of the House, such as passing the election-related bills, taking action on impeachment motion filed against the chief of the Commission for the Investigation of Abuse of Authority and passing of the constitution amendment bill. “Obstructing the House proceedings suppresses people’s voice and does not serve any political party’s purpose,” Sharma quoted the speaker as telling both leaders.

The speaker told Deuba and Oli that they could either reach an agreement on the process or the contents of the constitution amendment bill in order to end the deadlock in the House.

The speaker is embarking on a foreign tour to the United Arab Emirates on Saturday to take part in a global conference of female speakers, according to Sharma. She will return home on December 14.