Kathmandu, September 14
The House of Representatives has released its tentative calendar through October 1, outlining the dates on which meetings will be held and the likely agenda for each sitting. However, the calendar does not include the direct question-and-answer session with the prime minister.
The House had previously scheduled a direct question-and-answer session with Prime Minister Balen Shah for August 26. The programme was disrupted after a devastating flood struck Rasuwa on the same day.
No new date has been fixed for the session since then.
The provision for the prime minister’s question-and-answer session is set out in Rule 56 of the House of Representatives Rules.
The rule states that the Speaker “shall” allocate the first hour of a sitting on any one day during the first week of every month for members to ask questions on important matters directly related to the prime minister or his area of responsibility.
The provision is mandatory, as it uses the term “shall”. It also specifies what should happen if the session cannot be held on the scheduled day.
“If, for any reason, the meeting cannot be held on that day, the Speaker shall allocate the first hour of the immediately following meeting,” states Sub-rule 1 of Rule 56.
However, despite this provision, no prime minister’s question session has been included in the parliamentary calendar through October 1.
According to the calendar, the House will meet on September 15 and 16, followed by sittings on September 17, 21, 22, 23, September 29 and 30, and October 1.
Meanwhile, preparations are underway to send bills currently before the House to thematic parliamentary committees for clause-by-clause discussions. The tentative agenda includes items related to this process.
