Speaker Dol Prasad Aryal met President Ram Chandra Paudel at the President’s Office, Shital Niwas, in Kathmandu on Friday, with the two discussing current issues, according to the President’s private secretariat. A source also said the meeting covered the convening of Parliament, whose session has been adjourned for some time, as the opposition Nepali Congress has been calling for it to resume. The official account did not provide details of the wider discussion, while reports on the meeting described the parliamentary session as one of the issues raised.
Discussion at Shital Niwas
The meeting brought the Speaker and the President together at the President’s Office. The President’s private secretariat said the two discussed current issues, but its account did not identify specific topics or provide further details about the conversation. Reports from Nepal Press, Ratopati and Nagarik News covered the meeting.
A source cited in reports said the two also discussed convening the Parliament session. That detail was not included in the private secretariat’s brief description of the meeting, which referred generally to current issues. The reports did not provide further information on what Aryal or Paudel said about the session, whether a decision was made, or what steps might follow. The distinction between the secretariat’s account and the additional source-based detail is important: the meeting’s broad subject was officially described, while the possible discussion of Parliament was attributed to a source.
Parliament session remains a point of contention
The Parliament session has been adjourned for some time, and the opposition Nepali Congress has been demanding that it be convened. The reported discussion at Shital Niwas therefore came amid an ongoing political demand for the House to meet. The available accounts do not specify when the session was adjourned, how long it has remained inactive, or the precise terms of the opposition party’s demand.
The Nepali Congress’s call to open the session is the political context attached to the reported conversation. However, no statement in the available reporting indicates that the meeting settled the question or produced an agreed date for Parliament to convene. Nor do the reports set out a response from the President or the Speaker to the opposition’s demand. The source-based account says the issue was discussed, but does not describe the exchange or indicate whether either official announced a next step.
No further details announced
The meeting’s reported focus on current issues was not accompanied by a public account of the discussion’s full agenda. The President’s private secretariat’s description established that Aryal and Paudel met and spoke about current matters, while a source added that Parliament’s convening was also discussed. Beyond those points, the reports do not give details about the duration of the meeting, other subjects raised, or any decisions or commitments made.
The immediate significance of the meeting, as reported, is that the question of convening Parliament was raised while the Nepali Congress is pressing for the session to be opened. Whether the discussion leads to any change in the status of the adjourned session remains unclear from the accounts available. No announcement setting a date for Parliament to meet was reported following the meeting. For now, the confirmed account is limited to the discussion of current issues, alongside a source’s claim that the parliamentary session was among the subjects considered at Shital Niwas.
