In his address to Parliament on Sunday, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister for Home Affairs Rabi Lamichhane failed to clarify whether he was involved in the cooperatives fund misappropriation as accused by the main opposition party, the Nepali Congress, experts say.

Instead of presenting any convincing evidence to prove the allegations wrong, Lamichhane tried to label counter-accusations against his accusers, they said.

Congress has been obstructing Parliament proceedings since Prime Minister Pushpa Kamal Dahal changed the coalition partners on March 4 by breaking alliance with the Nepali Congress and bringing the CPN-UML onboard. Congress has been obstructing Parliament for the last two months, demanding the formation of a parliamentary committee to probe Lamichhane’s alleged involvement in the embezzlement of cooperatives funds.

Lamichhane and his former business partner, GB Rai, who has fled the country after the cooperatives controversy surfaced, are accused of rerouting the money from various cooperatives in Pokhara, Butwal and Chitwan to Gorkha Media Network to jointly run Galaxy 4k Television, which is now dysfunctional.

Lamichhane, the president of the Rastriya Swatantra Party (RSP), had been seeking time to defend himself in the Parliament after Congress demanded that a parliamentary committee be formed to probe his involvement in the scam. Though he got the opportunity to speak after insisting on it for two months, experts say he failed to defend himself.

In his speech, Lamichhane could not provide a clear answer as to why he wasn’t involved in the misappropriation of the cooperative funds, they say, adding that instead of addressing the questions raised against him, he raised other issues that would not prove him innocent.

Som Bahadur Thapa, a former secretary of Parliament, said that Lamichhane was given the platform to clarify the charges against him but he couldn’t utilise that.

“A programme presenter in television before joining politics in 2022, he definitely should have known what he was supposed to tell while addressing Parliament,” Thapa told the Post. “But, instead of answering the questions earnestly, he tried to ‘do politics’.”

During his about 40-minute-long address in Parliament, Lamichhane fiercely attacked the Congress party and its leaders, accusing them of being involved in various scandals. Lamichhane particularly took aim at Congress General Secretary Gagan Thapa and other senior party leaders.

In doing so, experts say, Lamichhane took the ‘whataboutery’ approach, which is a technique of responding to accusations or difficult questions by deflecting attention through counter-accusations or raising unrelated issues.

Earlier, when he was questioned about his passport and citizenship, he had presented himself as flamboyantly as he did on Sunday. Last year in February, he lashed out at the media after he had to step down as the home minister. This time, he targeted leaders of the main opposition party.

Political analyst Mumaram Khanal found the way Lamichhane presented himself in the Parliament something odd. The way he spoke is seldom expected in Parliament, said Khanal.

“In parliamentary practice, the House always belongs to the opposition party, whereas the ruling parties are supposed to answer the queries they raise,” Khanal told the Post. “Lamichhane was supposed to answer the questions raised against him but he ended up being a reactionary, raising counter questions.”

However, RSP leaders are not ready to accept Khanal’s argument. “Lamichhane just cited the earlier instances that had happened in Nepal, which cannot be undermined by labelling him reactionary,” Shiva Nepali, a RSP lawmaker, told the Post.

Lawmaker Nepali claimed that Lamichhane was able to clarify the allegations against him. “The common citizens do not understand the political language, so he used the language they understand,” Nepali said.

Meanwhile, Congress Vice President and Member of Parliament Dhan Raj Gurung submitted an application to Speaker Devraj Ghimire on Monday demanding action against Lamichhane for disrespecting Parliament.

Gurung demanded that Home Minister Lamichhane be made accountable for contempt of Parliament for his baseless allegation against Congress lawmakers.

“As per the regulation of Parliament under Rule 219, Home Minister Lamichhane failed to abide by the rules of Parliament,” Gurung said in his application.

Meanwhile, the main opposition Congress has concluded that Lamichhane presented himself “in a violent manner” in Parliament on Sunday.

Congress leaders on Monday condemned Lamichhane's presentation in the House of Representatives as rude, misleading, fabricated, and violent.

Lamichhane, however, argued that he had done nothing wrong, citing past instances while addressing the House on Sunday.

Speaking to the media at the Parliament premises on Monday, Lamichhane clarified that during his remarks, he merely cited media reports that named individuals in various cases in the past.