KATHMANDU, JUL 04 -
Twenty-seven opposition parties, including the Nepali Congress (NC) and the CPN-UML, have decided to officially request President Ram Baran Yadav not to endorse a budget in any form even if the government brings it out without political consensus.
The official position of the opposition comes as the government revs up preparations for a “full budget.” According to the opposition parties, the move will go against the recent Supreme Court ruling that “limits” the government’s current programmes, projects and administrative expenses.
Opposition leaders said a caretaker government has no right to introduce even a “partial budget” through an ordinance. “This caretaker government has no right to bring out any kind of budget without political consensus. We will request the President to block this budget,” said NC General Secretary Krishna Prasad Sitaula.
The parties agreed to plead with the President either jointly or individually.
Sitaula said they will most probably approach President Yadav on Wednesday. “We could not meet the President today due to time constants,” he said.
A joint meeting of the parties held at the UML headquarters in Balkhu concluded that the recent order of the Supreme Court has blocked the caretaker government from unveiling budgetary programmes in any form. They said the court had ruled that the government must bring out the budget in line with Clauses 1 and 2 of Article 96 (a) of the Interim Constitution.
“Even past practices have shown that the government needs to bring out a budget for current programmes, projects and administrative expenditure, all in line with the clauses mentioned earlier,” a statement issued by the opposition parties said.
The parties are demanding Prime Minister Baburam Bhattarai’s immediate resignation as a precondition to the presentation of the budget. They said the PM has been relieved of his responsibilities and that he should step down to pave way for a national consensus government.
The parties said Bhattarai is trying to “consolidate power” by going against the spirit of the Interim Constitution.
“We urge the prime minister to quit without delay and pave way for a national consensus government for the sake of constitutional supremacy, the rule of law, democracy and past pacts and to avert a political confrontation,” UML Secretary Bishnu Poudel said in the statement.
Source: http://www.ekantipur.com/2012/07/04/top-story/oppn-to-urge-prez-not-to-okay-budget/356564/
0 comments:
Post a Comment