Will discussions on the no-confidence motion against Prime Minister KP Sharma Oli start on Thursday when the House resumes its business? Confusion remains.

While the new alliance of the Nepali Congress and the CPN (Maoist Centre), which filed the no-trust motion in Parliament on Wednesday, are bent on not letting the House debate any other issue except the motion on Thursday, the ruling alliance is pressing for the discussion and passage of subsidiary bills related to the budget before Parliament tables the no-confidence motion for discussion.

The ruling alliance has argued that since the subsidiary bills were incorporated as the House business before the no-confidence motion was registered, they should be discussed first.

Friday’s Parliament meeting, which was supposed to discuss Financial Bill, Bill to Raise Public Debt and the Loan and Guarantee Bill related to the budget for the next fiscal year, was postponed by Speaker Onsari Gharti until Thursday after the NC and the Maoist Centre demanded that the House should discuss the no-confidence motion before the subsidiary bills. Accordingly, the Parliament Secretariat had issued a notice, saying that the no-confidence motion would be discussed [on Thursday] before the bills.

But the ruling alliance has claimed that nobody, not even the Speaker, has the authority to withdraw the agenda of the House.

“We are for maintaining parliamentary practices. The Speaker should not set a bad precedent,” said Bhanu Bhakta Dhakal, chief whip of the governing CPN-UML. “If she continues to insist on putting the no-confidence motion for discussion before the subsidiary bills, the House cannot function,” said Dhakal, in an indication that lawmakers from the ruling alliance may obstruct discussions on the no-trust motion on Thursday.

Speaker Gharti, however, has maintained that she “is just following the past precedents, as the constitution and parliamentary regulations are unclear about what should be the priority in the event of a no-confidence motion”. Issuing a press statement on Sunday, Speaker Gharti said she had held consultations with legal experts and parliamentarians before deciding to put the no-confidence motion in priority.

But citing an incident of 1997, the ruling alliance has argued that when then prime minister Girija Prasad Koirala was facing a no-trust motion, then Speaker Ram Chandra Poudel had presented several bills in Parliament before starting discussions on the motion. “I hope the Speaker will study that and take the decision accordingly,” said Dil Nath Giri, chief whip of Rastriya Prajatantra Party Nepal.

Babin Sharma, press adviser to Speaker Gharti, however, said Parliament will first discuss the no-confidence motion on Thursday.

“The scenario may change if parties unanimously decide to discuss the subsidiary bills of the budget before discussing the no-confidence motion,” said Bharat Raj Guatam, spokesperson for the Parliament Secretariat. “The duration of the discussion will depend on the number of the lawmakers willing to take part in the discussion.

Voting on the no-trust motion will commence after PM Oli answers to lawmakers’ queries.”