Both chambers of the federal parliament on Sunday passed the government’s policies and programme for the next fiscal year, 2024-25, amid protest by the main opposition Nepali Congress.

Despite the Congress obstructing the House of Representatives, Speaker Devraj Ghimire conducted the discussion on the policies and programmes, which was later passed by a majority of lawmakers.

Before the session passed the motion, Prime Minister Pushpa Kamal Dahal responded to lawmakers’ queries during the discussion on the policies and programmes presented by President Ramchandra Paudel on May 14.

“I feel a little uneasy answering these queries amidst the obstruction,” Prime Minister Dahal said. “Efforts are being made to end this impasse and I am holding talks with the leader of the main opposition party.”

Before the House meeting, Prime Minister Dahal had reached the residence of Congress President Sher Bahadur Deuba. “I am in discussions on ending the Parliament deadlock with the Congress president,” Dahal said, addressing the Parliament meeting. “The disruption of Parliament will end soon.”

The government has a constitutional obligation to present the fiscal budget to a joint meeting of the House and the National Assembly on Jestha 15 [May 28 this year]. It is not yet clear how the Congress will present itself on the day Finance Minister Barsha Man Pun reads out the national budget.

The House of Representatives discussed the policies and programmes for over an hour amid protests by Congress lawmakers. Prem Suwal of the Nepal Majdoor Kisan Party and Chitra Bahadur KC of the Rastriya Janamorcha proposed amendments to the policies and programmes, only to be refused by the House later.

For the last two months, the Congress has been obstructing Parliament, demanding a parliamentary committee to investigate Deputy Prime Minister and Minister for Home Affairs Rabi Lamichhane over his alleged involvement in the embezzlement of cooperative funds.

The Congress began protests soon after Lamichhane’s appointment as the home minister. Prime Minister Pushpa Kamal Dahal, who broke a year-long alliance with the Congress, joined hands with the CPN-UML and the Rashtriya Swatantra Party (RSP) on March 4 and subsequently appointed Lamichhane the home minister.

The main opposition has been demanding a parliamentary probe into Lamichhane’s alleged involvement in embezzling cooperatives deposits, arguing that government agencies can’t independently investigate the home minister.

The winter session of Parliament was prorogued on April 14 amid the Congress’ obstruction. The party gave continuity to its obstruction the day the budget session commenced on May 10.

The party had even announced to obstruct the presentation of the government’s policies and programmes by the President on May 14, but it lifted the obstruction for the day to allow the President to present the document.

Gyanendra Bahadur Shahi, chief whip of the Rastriya Prajatantra Party (RPP), speaking on behalf of the opposition parties in the House of Representatives on Sunday, urged Home Minister Lamichhane not to shy away from a parliamentary inquiry even if it meant his name would be mentioned in the terms of reference.

“Let the parliamentary committee be formed. If you are guilty, you will be punished. If proven innocent, you could rejoin the Cabinet as the home minister,” Shahi said.

“It is strange that an arrest warrant has been issued against RPP lawmaker Geeta Basnet of the same House, but not Lamichhane, though the allegations labelled against both are the same,” said Shahi. “Law should be equal for all. If an arrest warrant can be issued against Geeta Basnet, it can also be issued against Lamichhane.”

The Nawalpur District Court on April 30 issued an arrest warrant against lawmaker Basnet on charges of cooperative fraud. The court’s decision came after a complaint was registered against Basnet over her involvement in embezzling funds from the Nawalpur-based Chhipchhipe Savings and Credit Cooperative. Basnet’s group allegedly misused around 15 million rupees from the cooperatives.

Basnet is at large after the issuance of the arrest warrant against her.

Though the Congress leaders have been pressing for a probe committee, the ruling parties have declined to specifically mention Lamichhane’s name while formulating the terms and reference of the proposed committee. They, however, want to define the committee’s jurisdiction such that it can investigate issues of cooperatives broadly.

“Parliamentary probe committee cannot be constituted without mentioning the name of the person who is accused of embezzling cooperatives funds,” Chitra Bahadur KC, chair of the Rastriya Janamorcha Party, told journalists on the Parliament premises.

Janardan Sharma, a CPN (Maoist Centre) lawmaker, told the House meeting that big political crises and challenges were brewing in the country. “Therefore, national consensus is needed to address the issues,” he said.

“The logjam in Parliament will bring more trouble to the country and add to public fury,” said Sharma. “I appeal to everyone to take the initiative to break the deadlock.”