Dahal alludes to the House panel on joint financial embezzlement

Pushpa Kamal Dahal, the prime minister, has made it clear that he is willing to set up a parliamentary committee to look into the embezzlement of depositor funds by the owners of various cooperatives across the nation. Numerous cooperative businesses have embezzled and misappropriated billions of rupees from millions of depositors, per a police investigation.

Such a parliamentary panel has long been demanded by the main opposition Nepali Congress to look into allegations of embezzlement of millions of rupees, specifically from two cooperatives in Butwal and Pokhara, made by Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Home Affairs Rabi Lamichhane. Speaking at the CPN (Maoist Center) parliamentary party meeting on Saturday, the prime minister stated that the misappropriation of cooperative deposits has developed into a significant and intricate matter. He said that plans are in motion to establish a parliamentary committee to address the matter in its entirety.

Maoist lawmaker Devendra Poudel told the Post that the proposed committee would investigate ways to reimburse depositors for their money as well as examine issues that all cooperatives face. The prime minister has discussed his plan with party president Sher Bahadur Deuba, according to a leader of the Nepali Congress. According to the Congress leader, the committee will investigate the matter holistically rather than focusing on a specific politician. The leader of the House of Representatives, however, claims that the prime minister’s proposal has not won over the party that dominated its business during the winter session of Parliament.

Since the government has scheduled the budget session for May 10, the main opposition has announced that it will bring up the issue of parliamentary committee formation once more. “We are going to schedule a meeting of the parliamentary committee on Thursday,” stated Bishwa Prakash Sharma, general secretary of the Nepali Congress, prior to the house session. Our primary goal, according to Sharma, will be to establish a parliamentary committee to look into the cooperatives fund embezzlement issue, Home Minister Lamichhane’s involvement, and the property of all public office holders held after 1991.

In an attempt to curb the widespread corruption that has emerged in recent years, a number of Congress leaders, including the general secretary of the opposing party, Gagan Thapa, have suggested that properties of public office holders since 1991 be examined by an all-powerful body. The Congress refused to let the government introduce any bills and protested in the House nonstop, demanding the committee. On Friday, the budget session will begin. “The party has not shifted its stance on the cooperative matter and will cause disruptions in House sessions if the government ignores our request,” stated Congress Chief Whip Ramesh Lekhak.

The prime minister informed the leaders of his parties about the likelihood that the Congress would continue the House protests. At the parliamentary party meeting, the prime minister was quoted by a Maoist lawmaker as saying, “It is not sure if the upcoming House session will conduct its regular business.” “It’s unclear whether the House can function efficiently.” In an effort to address the situation, Prime Minister Dahal also informed party leaders that the government was consulting with a number of political parties.

“The administration cannot present its budget and hold discussions on it if the House does not resume its regular business,” stated Poudel. “The prime minister is serious about finding a quick solution because of this.” The prime minister promised his party that he would convene an all-party conference shortly to explore a solution. The prime minister supported Home Minister Lamichhane during the meeting as well. The prime minister stated, “We should not place the blame on one leader, even though we know cooperative issues are serious.” Since this is a complicated and serious matter, we will ask the Cabinet for a solution. We need to examine the issue holistically, not just concerning one leader, and this is what we are currently attempting to do.

Lamichhane has been denying any role he played in the cooperatives’ fund embezzlement, though. The prime minister allegedly stated in the Maoist meeting that the main opposition may have connected the home minister to cooperative scams in an attempt to cause division within the ruling coalition. Shekhar Koirala, the leader of the Congress, countered that the party was not calling for the resignation of the home minister but rather for a parliamentary committee to investigate his purported role in misusing savings.

“But why is the government not eager to start the investigation?” Koirala enquired. “Lamichane wouldn’t oppose the parliamentary committee and would be confident in his ability to continue as home minister if he is honest and not involved in the misappropriation of cooperative funds.” However, as soon as Congress leaders were made to resign from office, the prime minister charged that they were planning a plot against the government.

Dahal informed Maoist MPs that Madhav Kumar Nepal, the head of the coalition partner CPN (Unified Socialist), had voiced some unhappiness, but it was manageable. Another member of the Maoist legislature claimed that the prime minister stated, “This does not threaten the stability of the government.” The prime minister stated that there are some technical problems with the federal government and the provincial governments. “These are doable.” The prime minister added that in order to meet the expectations of the people, the government would expand the annual budget.

Bhandari was sworn in as a newly elected member of the Sudurpaschim Province Assembly

On Thursday, Daman Bahadur Bhandari, who was just elected from Bajhang-1 to the Sudurpaschim Province Assembly, took an oath of office and secrecy. The oath was given to Speaker Bhim Bhandari, who had emerged victorious in the by-election in Bajhang-1 subsequent to the demise of Nepali Congress legislator Prithvi Bahadur Singh on June 20, 2023. With 11,612 votes, Bhandari, a CPN-UML representative, defeated Abhishek Singh, the late legislator Prithvi Bahadur Singh’s son, to win the by-election. The CPN-UML now has 11 seats in the Sudurpaschim Provincial Assembly after Bhandari took over.

After a faction led by Ashok Rai leaves the party, a new JSP faction forms

Dr. Mahendra Lawoti and Khagendra Makhim are the leaders of a new faction that has broken away from the Janata Samajwadi Party-Nepal (JSP-Nepal). They have chosen to stay apart from Ashok Rai and Upendra Yadav’s factions and maintain their neutrality. Limbuwan leaders who had previously joined the JSP are part of this impartial position. Under Ashok Rai’s leadership, members of the CPN-UML have also defected to form the new faction. In the recent Ilam by-election, leaders Khagendra Makhim, Lawati, and Saru Singhak backed an independent candidate. Twelve parliamentary seats were split as a result of the JSP split, with seven members siding with Ashok Rai and five backing Upendra Yadav.