Opposition lawmakers cite examples of ministers in Oli govt who did so not long ago
KATHMANDU, MARCH 19
The CPN-Maoist Centre, the Nepali Congress, and the Samajbadi Janata Party-Nepal today sought Prime Minister KP Sharma Oli's resignation on moral grounds.
Lawmakers representing these parties in the House of Representatives said the PM should resign on moral grounds, as his move dissolving the Lower House was nullified by the Supreme Court terming it an unconstitutional act.
CPN-MC lawmaker Pampha Bhusal gave examples of two ministers, who had served as Oli's Cabinet colleagues and had resigned on moral grounds. She was referring to Sher Bahadur Tamang and Gokul Prasad Baskota. While Tamang resigned after making inappropriate remarks against Nepali female students pursuing medicine in Bangladesh, Baskota resigned as minister of communications and information technology after he was accused of seeking a bribe of Rs 700 million from a Swiss company for awarding a security printing press procurement contract.
Bhusal said that despite the party's objection, the PM issued an ordinance to amend the Constitutional Council Act and made appointments to constitutional bodies.
She said parliamentary hearing should be conducted for those nominees as the HoR had been reinstated.
She said under the current electoral system, getting a simple majority was tough, but the PM was misleading the public by saying that he could win a two-thirds majority.
She said the economy was badly affected by the COVID pandemic, but the PM was trying to hold elections.
Nepali Congress Chief Whip Balkrishna Khand also sought the PM's resignation.
"Shouldn't the PM take moral responsibility after the court ruled the dissolution of the HoR unconstitutional?" he asked.
Khand said that the capital expenditure had decreased, but the government was claiming progress on the development front.
JSP-N lawmaker Rajkishor Yadav said Nepal's former prime minister Kirti Nidhi Bista had resigned on moral grounds after a massive fire destroyed buildings in Singha Durbar.
He said the release of party lawmaker Resham Chaudhary should not be made a bargaining chip for JSP-N's participation in the government.
He said Madhesi and Tharu forces had joined other political forces to bring political changes in the country, but after the political movement, Madhesis and Tharus did not get their rightful share.
He said the country should be run on the basis of national consensus and all parties should join hands.
A version of this article appears in the print on March 20, 2021, of The Himalayan Times.
