Kathmandu, June 19

Nepali Congress President and Parliamentary Party Leader Sher Bahadur Deuba today said Prime Minister KP Sharma Oli yesterday missed the opportunity to furnish answers to the questions put forth by the leader of the opposition in the Parliament.

The NC had yesterday obstructed the House of Representatives after Speaker Krishna Bahadur Mahara did not give Deuba an opportunity to express his views before calling PM Oli to deliver his speech.

Deuba said it was global practice that the opposition first put forth queries and the ruling side later furnished answers. “It is said the ‘opposition speaks, government acts’. But in Nepal, the opposition is not allowed to speak, and only the ruling side speaks,” said Deuba, referring to a recent incident where the speaker did not allow members of the opposition to speak after Oli’s address to the Parliament.

Stating that he had planned to raise a host of issues, not only the Guthi Bill, yesterday, Deuba flayed the government for withdrawing the bill registered in the House from outside. “The minister concerned should withdraw any bill registered in the House from the House, not from outside, when the House session is under way,” he said.

Deuba also termed PM Oli’s recent Europe visit a ‘failure’, stating that no substantive talks on bilateral issues were held. Remembering his visit to the United Kingdom 17 years ago when he had signed a pact on hiking pension for British Gurkha veterans, Deuba asked what deal Oli had expected from caretaker UK PM Theresa May.

“In France, the president, who is the executive head, did not grant an audience to Oli,” he said. “So this visit is a failure.”

Speaking about some controversial bills registered in the Parliament — including Media Council Bill, Information Technology Bill, National Human Rights Commission Bill, and National Security Council Bill — Deuba said the government was trying to sabotage democracy through these legislations.

He said the government was intimidating the press by provisioning harsher penalties in the Media Council Bill. He said democracy would not succeed in absence of full press freedom. “If the press writes wrong, it is responsible. The readers and the people will judge,” he said. “Why are you so scared of the press?”

Deuba said the IT Bill also sought to control freedom of expression and curtail the right to information guaranteed by the Constitution.

As for the NHRC Bill, Deuba said the bill had tried to weaken the human rights watchdog, which he termed another attack on democracy.

Deuba also said the existing National Security Council Act, which provisioned army mobilisation by the president on the recommendation of the council, was complete enough. “Now the PM wants to mobilise the army himself. This means the PM does not have faith in the defence minister, home minister, chief secretary and the army chief,” said Deuba.

Deuba said if the government did not withdraw the bills, the NC’s objection would be stronger. “These bills are against the constitution. Democracy cannot flourish in the absence of civil liberties,” he said.

Deuba also criticised Oli for not attending the House when the leader of the opposition was addressing the House.