Oli meets Poudel, says onus to open parliament lies with the govt

Kathmandu, 16 Aug:  K P Oli, leader of the opposition in parliament and chairman of the Communist party of Nepal-Unified Marxist Leninist, met with President Ram Chandra Poudel at Shital Niwas, but he was non-committal to the president’s request to let the House of Representatives run.

Sources at the President’s office said that the President solicited the former Prime Minister’s support in letting the House run, but there was no firm commitment from Oli.

After the meeting, Oli told media that the government’s refusal to listen to the opposition on various scandals was responsible for the House stalemate and therefore the onus to have run it smoothly lies with the government and the ruling coalition.

The UML, supported by a section of the Nepali Congress Party, has been demanding parliamentary probe into the gold smuggling case, but the government has assigned the central investigation bureau the responsibility.

Oli’s visit to Shital Niwas comes in the wake of Prime Minister Pushpa Kamal Dahal’s (Prachanda) caustic remarks yesterday implying that the leader of the opposition was hindering the probe into gold smuggling by opposing the CIB probe.