Parliament resumed discussions on the impeachment motion against Lok Man Singh Karki on Friday—two weeks after the House took up the issue. The House meeting was put off until Monday again. As many as 157 lawmakers from the CPN (Maoist Centre) and the CPN-UML on October 19 had registered the impeachment motion against Karki at the Parliament Secretariat. Karki currently remains suspended as the chief of the Commission for Investigation of Abuse of Authority. The House took up the issue a week later on October 25. After starting discussions on the matter, Parliament was then adjourned for two weeks for Tihar and Chhath festivals. Out of 51 lawmakers who have registered names to discuss the motion, 40 have aired their views so far.

According the Parliament Secretariat, those willing to air their views on the motion can still register their names.

Maoist Centre and UML lawmakers said the process “is being delayed” to allow the Nepali Congress more time to decide on the matter. The NC has yet to come up with an official position on the impeachment motion against Karki. But nonetheless, NC lawmakers who have spoken in Parliament so far have strongly called for getting the impeachment motion endorsed. “The process should not be delayed on any pretext,” said UML lawmaker Purusottam Poudel while taking part in the discussion on Friday. Meanwhile, the Impeachment Recomm-endation Committee, which will study and investigate the charges against Karki, is yet to finalise its working procedure.