KATHMANDU, OCTOBER 29

President Bidhya Devi Bhandari, on recommendation of the government, prorogued the current session of the Parliament from today.

The president sent a letter to the Parliament Secretariat informing it of the prorogation of the House from midnight today, said Assistant Spokesperson for the Parliament Secretariat Dasharath Dhamala.

The government decided to end the Parliament session as the main opposition CPN-UML had been obstructing House proceedings since September 8 when the new session of the Parliament began. The main opposition party stalled House proceedings to protest the alleged bias of Speaker Agni Prasad Sapkota against it.

Although the government passed the revised budget amidst the UML’s protest, it could not pass other bills in the House. There are 54 bills under consideration of the House, including some crucial bills that the Parliament needs to pass urgently. The UML continued its obstruction of House proceedings accusing Speaker Sapkota of aiding its split by not confirming the expulsion of 14 UML lawmakers.

The UML had written to Sapkota urging him to confirm the expulsion of 14 UML lawmakers, including Madhav Kumar Nepal but Sapkota did not act on its letter until the poll panel recognised the split. Nepal split the party and opened a new party, CPN (Unified Socialist).

A version of this article appears in the print on October 30, 2021, of The Himalayan Times.