The Rastriya Prajatantra Party has asked the opposition parties not to obstruct the House, saying that the deadlock would only benefit the extremist forces.

The parliamentary party meeting of the rightist force also urged the protesting parties to allow the discussion on the amendment bill in the House. Seven parties, including main opposition CPN-UML, have been obstructing the Parliament meeting for the last 10 days.

The party’s Chief Whip Dilnath Giri said that the decision on the amendment should be taken from Parliament not through the protests. “The House has every right to accept or reject it. Obstruction of the discussion is not acceptable,” he said. The meeting also decided not to support the amendment bill in present form, saying some of the provisions regarding citizenship and language were not accepted to the party. The RPP, a coalition partner with two ministerial seats in the incumbent government, has 37 lawmakers in the Parliament.

Giri said that the amendment bill could not be endorsed amid the intense public protests in the districts of Province 5. The party has also asked the government to build a consensus to resolve the current impasse in the House.

Party’s dress code

The RPP has made the national dress daura-suruwal mandatory for its male lawmakers in Parliament and sari and cholo for female lawmakers.

The lawmakers from various indigenous and Madhesi community, however, can put on their cultural dress, it was announced during the party’s meeting on Friday. “No lawmakers now on will be allowed to wear casual dress like shirt and pant,” Giri said.