Top leaders of major parties Nepali Congress (NC), CPN-UML and UCPN (Maoist) on Sunday agreed to seek a middle path to end the ongoing dispute over the parliamentary regulation. Parliament is operating under interim regulations for the last six months as the major parties have failed to endorse a new set of regulations in line with the new constitution.

Parties are under pressure to finalise the regulation as budget session of Parliament begins on Tuesday. In a meeting called by Speaker Onsari Gharti, top leaders agreed that disputes on regulation should be settled through a consensus, instead of voting.

“Top leaders of major parties have agreed to seek a middle path to resolve the dispute on regulation by Monday,” said Speaker Gharti’s Press Advisor Babin Sharma.

However, the parties are yet to explore what a middle path would look like. The major bone of contention is over the size of Parliamentary Hearing Special Committee (PHSC) as the ruling and opposition parties remain deeply divided over its strength.

The NC and some fringe parties are in favour of giving continuity to the 73-member body that existed before the constitution promulgation. The ruling coalition, on the other hand, is pressing for downsizing it to 15 members in line with a provision in the new constitution. In the meeting, Prime Minister KP Oli, Nepali Congress President Sher Bahadur Deuba and UCPN (Maoist) Chairman Pushpa Kamal Dahal agreed to settle disputes after holding consultations within the respective parties.  

A source at Parliament Secretariat dropped a hint that the parties might go for a new size instead of arbitrarily sticking to 73 or 15 numbers.

“The dispute over the size will be resolved after the Parliamentary Party meeting of Nepali Congress,” UCPN (Maoist) Chairman Dahal told reporters after the meeting.

The cross-party committee responsible for finalising the regulation is meeting on Monday.

Dispute over the finalisation of regulation has affected the hearing of ambassadorial recommendations and judges of the Supreme Court.

“I will discuss in the meeting of Parliamentary Party on Monday to seek a solution to dispute,” Deuba’s aide quoted him as saying in the meeting with top leaders.

If the parties fail to finalise the regulation by Tuesday, Parliament meeting will be conducted on the basis of the interim regulation. Speaker Gharti separately consulted with chief whips of major parties to finalise the business of House session that begins on Tuesday.

In the meeting, the NC suggested to bring out government’s policy and programme only after the pre-budget discussion. The government was preparing to bring out policy and programme first but decided to hold pre-budget discussion instead following pressure from the opposition, according to leaders.