Kathmandu: Nepal's opposition parties on Friday obstructed the parliament for the second consecutive day, saying the Constitution amendment bill, aimed at carving out a new province to meet the demands of agitating Madhesis and other ethnic groups, is "against national interests".
The continued protests by the opposition parties led by CPN-UML forced House Speaker Onsari Gharti Magar to reschedule the meeting for Sunday.
The Parliament Secretariat had set the agenda of concluding general discussions on the impeachment motion against the Commission for the Investigation of Abuse of Authority Chief Lok Man Singh Karki for the meeting today.
Soon after the meeting began, CPN-ML General Secretary and former Deputy Prime Minister CP Mainali sought a time and said the House could not move ahead with the regular business unless the government withdrew the bill, which he claimed was against national interests, The Himalayan Times reported.
Lawmakers of UML, ML, Nepal Workers and Peasants Party and Rastriya Janamorcha stood up from their seats to obstruct the House. The parties had blocked the Parliamentary proceedings yesterday also.
The Parliament saw a heated debate over the phrase "mad dog" used by Mainali during his speech. Questioning the rationale behind the amendment bill, Mainali had wondered whether Prime Minister Prachanda was bitten by a mad dog.
Nepali Congress lawmaker Ram Hari Khatiwada objected to the remark, claiming the phrase was unceremonious for the Parliament.
Meanwhile, Nepal witnessed massive anti-government protests for the third consecutive day against the Constitution amendment bill.
Various political parties organised a joint protest in Butwal against the bill, forcing markets, industries and schools to remain close for a few hours.
An indefinite district-wide general strike has also been called in protest against the changes to the province borders introduced in the constitution amendment bill in parliament.
As per the provision in the constitution amendment bill, Arghakhanchu, Palpa, Gulmi, Rolpa and Pyuthan would be split from Province 5 and placed under Province 4.
The government had on Tuesday taken the step a day after the 15-day ultimatum served by the Federal Alliance for implementing the three-point deal expired.
The amendment bill aims to accommodate the demands of the agitating Madhesi and ethnic groups that include citizenship and boundary demarcation issues among others.
