Emerging from a meeting with President Dr Ram Baran Yadav at Shital Niwas, Dahal said, “These kinds of incidents happen in parliament of other countries as well. The government should be aware of it.” [break]
Responding to the president´s query, Dahal had said the incident had taken place because the “caretaker” government attempted to bring a full-fledged budget against the agreement it reached with government earlier.
Later, at a press conference organized at the Maoist Parliamentary Party office, Vice-chairman Narayankaji Shrestha also termed the incident a “minor scuffle” and instead asked the government to be accountable for it. “The government tried to bring the full-fledged budget as per Article 93 of the Interim Constitution. This was against the agreement.”
Maoists should apologize publicly: Pokharel
Minister for Information and Communications Shankar Pokharel on Saturday termed Friday night´s incident in parliament as an action influenced by “terrorist” mindset and said the UCPN (Maoist) should publicly apologize for the same. Stating that the incident revealed the Maoists´ real intentions, Pokharel ruled out possibilities of any future cooperation with the Maoists if they failed to apologize.
Speaking at a function in the capital, Pokharel, who is also the government spokesperson, said, “The incident was pre-planned and serious offence. Maoist bigwigs should apologize publicly for what happened.”
He emphasized that the investigation on the Maoist lawmakers, who had seized the budget documents and manhandled the finance minister, should be carried out only after the top leaders of the party issue public apologies.
Pokharel also noted that the Maoist party might have resorted to such a move to demonstrate that it has not abandoned “revolutionary” ideology in a bid to pacify party cadres ahead of the plenum.
This could also be an attempt to weaken Maoist Vice-chairman Baburam Bhattarai´s line at the plenum as it was him who had worked out the budget preparations, Pokharel said. Pokharel even alleged that the Maoist party was preparing ground for launching a movement in order to fish in the troubled waters.
Asked why the government was not prepared to handle such a move, he said it was because Maoist Chairman Pushpa Kamal Dahal had given his nod to the budget presentation and they expected him to keep his words.
Pokharel also claimed that any PLA fighters participating in the Maoist plenum will be regarded disqualified for integration and for living in UN-monitored cantonments.
NC demands action against Maoist lawmakers
The Nepali Congress (NC) has demanded action against those involved in manhandling Finance Minister Surendra Pandey and vandalizing tables in parliament.
A meeting of the NC Parliamentary Party (PP) held at Singha Durbar on Saturday afternoon asked Speaker Subas Nembang to take action against those involved in manhandling and vandalism as per the parliamentary regulations.
The meeting also drew attention of the speaker to make necessary security arrangements in the House in order to avoid such incidents in the future.
The NC PP committee said that the Maoists had failed to play a constructive role as an opposition party and behave responsibly. “This proves that the Maoist is bent on capturing state power through violence,” said a statement issued by Mahendra Dhwoj GC.
“We have felt that the Maoist act in parliament is an attack on the constitution, parliamentary values and the entire democratic system,” the statement said.
Take action by watching footages: Oli
CPN-UML Standing Committee member KP Sharma Oli has demanded immediate action against the Maoist lawmakers involved in the incident as footages clearly show them manhandling the finance minister.
Oli said Nembang shouldn´t delay taking action. "The speaker can identify those involved in the incident by watching the visual clips. He should suspend them with an immediate effect," Oli said at a function organized in the capital on Saturday. He said the incident should be taken seriously as the Maoists had carried out the attack in a planned manner. He also urged Nembang to be ready to face the Maoists or give in to their demands.
Lawyer Tika Ram Bhattarai, at the same function, said there is no need to form a probe committee to investigate into the incident. “He can watch the footages to identify the lawmakers involved and suspend them with immediate effect,” he said, adding, "The speaker can take this action using his prerogative."
Prem Bahadur Khadka, president of Nepal Bar Association, also urged Nembang to take action against those involved in the incident.
Related story
5 Common myths about common cold and flu (with video)
