‘No legal way for action against Maoist MPs’

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KATHMANDU, NOV 20 -
The parliament has no legal provision to take action against Maoist lawmakers who manhandled Finance Minister Surendra Pandey in the budget session, a senior official at the Parliament Secretariat said on Saturday.

The statement comes in response to the government’s demand for suspension of Maoist lawmakers involved in attacking Minister Pandey and Energy Minister Prakash Sharan Mahat.

“The protest inside parliament on Friday was a political issue. Our parliamentary rules have no provision for action against a protest staged collectively by lawmakers,” said Tek Prasad Dhungana, legal advisor to the Constituent Assembly. He said no parliament in the world takes action against lawmakers staging collective protest inside the House.

“The relationship between the Speaker and the lawmakers is not like the relationship between master and servant. He only has the role of a facilitator,” said Dhungana. He added that it is the responsibility of the political parties to demonstrate discipline in the House. Officials at the parliament also maintain that there is no requirement to investigate Friday’s incident as everything was open and transparent. “The issue should be sorted out by the political parties themselves,” said another official adding that the disruption of budget was a “collective and institutional” attempt of the Maoist party.

Dhungana said the Parliamentary Rules of Procedures only authorise the Speaker to take action against an individual lawmaker if he or she tries to violate the constitution and disrupt order in the House. “The parliamentary regulation doesn’t imagine a situation where parliamentarians resort to manhandling one another inside the House,” he said adding that there was no possibility of expelling all the Maoist lawmakers involved in the protest during Friday’s session.

Meanwhile, Minister for Constituent Assembly and Parliamentary Affairs Minendra Rijal said the Speaker should take action against the Maoist lawmakers involved in manhandling the ministers. “Those who picketed the rostrum are free, but those who physically attacked the ministers and lawmakers should face punishment,” he said. “There is a visual record of the meeting and the media also published the evidence, so the parliament should consider these as proof.”

Maoist Vice-Chairman Narayan Kaji Shrestha claimed none of his party lawmakers manhandled anyone in Friday’s House session. “Before talking about action against Maoist lawmakers, this government should be punished for bringing the budget in an unconstitutional manner,” he said.