National Freedom Party’s Sabha member Ravi Lamichhane has been accused of launching an aggressive attack against Speaker Devraj Ghimire. On Monday, during a parliamentary meeting, he expressed his anger towards Speaker Ghimire, stating that he wouldn’t allow President Rastriya Prajatantra Party to speak.
He leveled accusations of attempting to seize control of the House and expressed his concerns about undermining parliamentary democracy. He said, “If the attempt to seize the House is true, it’s another matter. For a new political party like ours that believes in democratic processes and values of the parliament, this is an extremely distressing issue.”
According to his prior plans, he revealed the situation the parliament has come to. “We were supposed to raise our concerns. We had previously come with peaceful opposition. We were ready to let the proceedings continue in the House. We even communicated this in writing. On days when the House wasn’t in session, we didn’t draw our salaries. But this has been exploited as a weakness,” he expressed.
He shared his disappointment at Speaker Ghimire’s behavior, saying, “The irresponsible behavior of an unaccountable person like this is eroding public confidence in the system. If they continue to abuse the law and the methods of democracy, it will create a situation of extreme despair.”
He also highlighted that the present situation in the parliament contradicts his earlier plans. “To see the parliament being controlled by mutual understandings rather than allowing diverse voices, to be muzzled like this after initially wanting people to speak and then suddenly shutting them up, it’s as if a plan has been made to close down the parliament. The scent of doing things this way, ‘I’ll do this, I’ll do that, I’ll do it this way, I’ll make it that way,’ has emerged,” he remarked.
He disclosed that a coalition had formed between Sabha members and the parliamentary secretariat. “After the chief opposition party spoke, the other parties also spoke. We too were about to speak. But well, the ruling party spoke in between. Then, after the opposition spoke again, it was our turn to speak. But the term ‘hi-jacked’ was used for the parliament. After taking the esteemed seats, we don’t get a chance to address the party’s concerns,” he revealed.
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