Nepal’s Parl meeting postponed till Monday as Oppn demands PM’s resignation

Kathmandu: A meeting of Nepal’s House of Representatives scheduled for Sunday has been postponed till Monday, amid Opposition’s demand for Prime Minister Pushpa Kamal Dahal Prachanda’s resignation over his remarks that an Indian businessman “once made efforts” to make him the premier that stirred up a storm in the Himalayan Nation.

In a notice, the Parliament Secretariat said that the meeting called for Sunday could not be held due to special reasons and it has been postponed till 3 pm on Monday.

As per the request of Prime Minister ‘Prachanda’, Sunday’s meeting was rescheduled for 3 pm. However, the meeting could not commence and has now been deferred, said Parliament secretariat sources.

Nepal’s three major parties the ruling CPN (Maoist Centre), the Nepali Congress and the Opposition CPN-UML reached an agreement earlier in the day to end the ongoing deadlock.

Prachanda, Nepali Congress president Sher Bahadur Deuba and CPN-UML chairperson KP Sharma Oli earlier agreed to resume the House session on Sunday.

The Opposition parties, including the UML, have been obstructing proceedings in both the houses for the past few days over the prime minister’s controversial remarks.

On July 3, during a book launch event, Prachanda said that Sardar Pritam Singh, a pioneer trucking entrepreneur in Nepal, played a key and historic role in enhancing Nepal-India relations.

“He (Singh) had once made efforts to make me the prime minister,” Prachanda said. “He travelled to Delhi several times and held multiple rounds of talks with political leaders in Kathmandu to make me the prime minister,” Prachanda said.

The remarks stirred up a political storm and invited criticism from several quarters. The Opposition has asked him to resign. However, a close aide of Prachanda has said that the Prime Minister will not resign.