KATHMANDU, Oct 21: Major political parties represented in parliament on Thursday deferred House meet in a bid to forge common stance to move forward the impeachment motion against the chief of the Commission for the Investigation of Abuse of Authority (CIAA), Lokman Singh Karki.
The House meeting initially scheduled for 11 am was deferred twice as the largest party in parliament, Nepali Congress (NC), sought time to discuss the issue within the party. The impeachment motion against Karki was on the likely business advisory of Thursday's parliament meeting.
Cabinet meeting postponed as parties discuss impeachment motion
According to Maoist lawmaker Ram Narayan Bidari, parties have decided to defer the House meeting for two days with a view to forge common stance among the major political forces on the motion. "We decided to buy time for two days because endorsement of impeachment motion is not possible without the support of at least major three political parties," said Bidari, who is also a member of the Impeachment Recommendation Committee.
Addressing the party's parliamentary meeting Thursday morning, CPN (Maoist Center) Chairman and Prime Minister Pushpa Kamal Dahal informed that the party will take appropriate decision on the impeachment motion after holding necessary consultations with the NC. The meeting had discussed in detail as to how to move forward the impeachment motion against Karki registered in the parliament secretariat on Wednesday, according to party's spokesperson Pampha Bhusal.
The cabinet meeting scheduled for Thursday was also deferred as Prime Minister Dahal remained busy in consultations with other political parties including the NC to forge consensus on the impeachment motion, according to the prime minister's personal assistant Ramesh Malla. The prime minister had held separate consultation with NC President Sher Bahadur Deuba and leaders of other political parties on Thursday.
Meanwhile, House Speaker Onsari Gharti cancelled her scheduled trip to Geneva following the latest political development. According to the speaker's press aide Babin Sharma, Speaker Gharti was scheduled to leave for a five-day trip Geneva on October 23 to take part in the 135th inter-parliamentary union conference.
Major political parties including the NC, CPN-UML and the Maoist Center had held their parliamentary party meetings to discuss the issue of impeachment motion against Karki. While the UML and Maoist Center have decided to back the motion in parliament, there is mounting pressure within NC to move forward the impeachment motion. However, the fourth largest party, RPP-N, has expressed reservations over the impeachment proposal.
