Kathmandu, August 25
A letter accompanied by a medical examination report stating that Prime Minister Balen Shah needs to wear dark glasses has been submitted to the Federal Parliament Secretariat.
Ekaram Giri, joint secretary and spokesperson for the Parliament Secretariat, confirmed that the letter, along with the medical report recommending that Prime Minister Shah wear dark glasses, had been received.
Earlier, Speaker Dol Prasad Aryal (DP) had instructed lawmakers, through their chief whips and whips, not to wear dark glasses in Parliament. He had said that lawmakers would need to submit a medical report if they had a medical reason for wearing them.
Accordingly, the Prime Minister’s office has submitted the letter and medical report stating that Shah needs to wear dark glasses.
A direct question-and-answer session with the Prime Minister is scheduled to take place during Wednesday’s House of Representatives meeting, where 11 lawmakers will question Shah.
Rule 56 of the House of Representatives Regulations provides for a direct question-and-answer session with the Prime Minister. It states that the Speaker shall allocate the first hour of a meeting on any day during the first week of each month for questions on important matters directly related to the Prime Minister or his areas of responsibility.
In accordance with the provision, the session has been scheduled for Wednesday.
Rule 57 allows the direct question-and-answer session to be broadcast live through government and other media outlets.
Under Rule 58, lawmakers wishing to question the Prime Minister must submit written information about the subject of their questions to the Speaker at least three days before the meeting.
Accordingly, Speaker Aryal had given lawmakers until August 21 to register their questions for the Prime Minister. Eleven lawmakers subsequently registered their questions.
The letter containing the medical report was submitted to the Parliament Secretariat ahead of Prime Minister Shah’s appearance at the House for the session, stating that he needs to wear dark glasses while attending the programme.
