With the Nepali Congress toughening its stance on the formation of a parliamentary panel to probe the alleged involvement of Deputy Prime Minister and Home Minister Rabi Lamichhane in cooperative fraud and continuing its obstruction of Parliament, the presentation of the government’s policies and programmes has become uncertain.

A meeting of present and past office bearers of the main opposition party on Saturday decided that it will not let Parliament proceed without the formation of a House committee to investigate Lamichhane’s involvement in the scams. Lamichhane, the Rastriya Swatantra Party (RSP) president, has been opposing the formation of such a committee claiming that the allegations against him are baseless.

The Congress also decided to convene its parliamentary party meeting on Monday to further discuss the matter and decide how to present itself in the next House meeting.

The presentation of the government’s policies and programmes to a joint sitting of the House of Representatives and the National Assembly by President Ramchandra Paudel is planned for Tuesday.

“During today's meeting, we discussed how to present ourselves on the day the President presents the policies and programmes,” Gagan Thapa, general secretary of the Congress, told the Post. “The final decision will be taken by the parliamentary party meeting on Monday as that is the proper body to arrive at the party’s decisions on parliamentary affairs.”

But the Saturday meeting reiterated the party’s earlier decision to obstruct House proceedings should the ruling parties deny a parliamentary probe against Lamichhane, Thapa said. “For smooth functioning of Parliament, formation of the probe committee is our bottom line.”

The new session of Parliament commenced on Friday but was adjourned without entering into its agenda after disruption by the Congress.

Also, the winter session was prorogued on April 14 amid protests by the main opposition with the same demand. The ruling parties are ready to form a parliamentary committee to look into the issues plaguing the cooperatives across the country. But they are reluctant to constitute a committee with the mandate to probe Lamichhane.

Leaders from the ruling parties, mainly CPN-UML chair KP Sharma Oli, argue that the Congress’ demand for the committee formation is chiefly intended to remove Lamichhane from the government, not to address the issues of the cooperatives.

Congress leaders argue that investigating Lamichhane is necessary as various probes by police and other government bodies have established his involvement in the scams.

Due to the rigid positions of the two sides, the all-party meeting called by Speaker Devraj Ghimire on May 7 couldn’t find a way to break the deadlock and resume Parliament’s proceedings.

Meanwhile, Lamichhane made a curious remark at a press conference in Bharatpur during his visit to his Chitwan-2 constituency on Saturday.

“I am ready for the parliamentary probe but I should be allowed to speak in Parliament first,” Lamichhane said. Earlier, Lamichhane and his party were against any probe committee targeted against the RSP chair. It’s not clear if and how his speech in Parliament will shield himself from such a probe.

If the ruling and opposition parties do not reach an agreement before May 14, it could hamper the procedures to present and endorse the government’s policies and programmes, a crucial step before presenting and endorsing the budget for the next fiscal year, say experts.

“The way things are unfolding, we are headed towards a political crisis,” political scientist Chandra Dev Bhatta, told the Post. “This is inevitable if the political parties continue to maintain their rigid lines on parliamentary probe.”

He referred to the past precedents of Nepal’s political parties finding solutions through last-minute deals. “I hope the same thing happens this time around,” Bhatta added.

Experts also say that the legitimacy of the government's policies and programmes will be questioned if the main opposition is not actively involved in budget endorsement. “The main opposition is an essential component of parliamentary practice. Any step that does not involve the opposition can’t be considered legitimate,” constitutional expert Chandra Kanta Gyawali told the Post.

The legislature has various other businesses too. A Cabinet meeting on April 23 amended nine laws through an ordinance to facilitate investments just ahead of the Nepal Investment Summit. The ordinance needs to be presented to Parliament within 60 days of the new session’s commencement, which was Friday, May 10.

If Parliament keeps deferring the business to replace the ordinance, it will have no legitimacy after the stipulated time, says Congress Chief Whip Ramesh Lekhak.

“The government faces a moral question. If the policies and programmes cannot be presented in Parliament, it will affect the presentation of the budget,” Lekhak said. “Therefore, the government must act responsibly while there is time.”

The constitution mandates the government to present its annual budget on Jestha 15 (May 28 this year).

In 2017, the then main opposition CPN-UML had been continuously obstructing parliamentary proceedings. But it had allowed then President Bidya Devi Bhandari to present the policies and programmes.

“We have a precedent of the President presenting the government’s policies and programmes even when the main opposition obstructed Parliament,” Govinda Acharya, press adviser to the prime minister, told the Post, referring to the 2017 case. “The government will make utmost effort to hammer out a deal with the Congress before the President presents the policies and programmes.”

But Congress Chief Whip Lekhak argued that his party will not blindly follow other parties. “If our demand for the probe committee is not addressed on time, we won’t let parliamentary proceedings go ahead, even to present the policies and programmes,” he told the Post.

After Friday’s parliamentary disruption, Prime Minister Pushpa Kamal Dahal met UML chair KP Sharma Oli, CPN (Unified Socialist) chair Madhav Kumar Nepal and RSP chair Lamichhane to explore ways to come to an agreement with the main opposition party, Acharya told the Post. “There might be a breakthrough before the schedule for the President’s presentation of the policies and programmes.”

UML Chief Whip Mahesh Bartaula and CPN (Maoist Centre) Chief Whip Hit Raj Pandey were optimistic about an agreement being reached with the Congress before Tuesday.

They were of the view that a democratic force like the Congress wouldn’t resort to an extreme measure like obstructing parliamentary proceedings on the day the President is scheduled to present the government’s policies and programmes.