Nepal’s caretaker government will force through the annual budget by ordinance after opposition Maoist lawmakers struck the finance minister and blocked him from presenting a budget bill to parliament.
An ordinance does not require parliamentary approval. Nepalese Finance Minister Surendra Pandey said the Cabinet was to take that step yesterday “to avert an economic crisis in the country.”
The dispute comes amid a long-running political stalemate in the Himalayan nation.
Nepalese Prime Minister Madhav Kumar Nepal and his government resigned in June under pressure from the Maoists. Since then, parliament has tried repeatedly to elect a new prime minister, but no party can muster enough support for the required simple majority.
Nepal and his Cabinet are running a caretaker administration, attending to little more than the most urgent functions of government. A budget was supposed to be approved by mid-July, but the government has been unable to forge agreement on it. An interim budget expired earlier this week.
The Maoists and the two other main parties in parliament had agreed earlier this week to approve the new budget, but the Maoists changed their minds on Friday.
Members from the Communist Party of Nepal (Maoist) blocked Pandey, snatched his briefcase and hit him several times as he prepared to present the budget bill inside parliament late on Friday.
Another minister tried to help Pandey in the scuffle that caused no injuries but damaged furnishings and microphone equipment inside the House.
Pandey condemned the attack, but senior Maoist leader Narayankaji Shrestha was unapologetic, saying they were compelled to act as the government was trying to pass the budget by a process they disagreed with. He said it was just a minor scuffle.
REBUILDING: A researcher said that it might seem counterintuitive to start talking about reconstruction amid the war with Russia, but it is ‘actually an urgent priority’ Italy is hosting the fourth annual conference on rebuilding Ukraine even as Russia escalates its war, inviting political and business leaders to Rome to promote public-private partnerships on defense, mining, energy and other projects as uncertainty grows about the US’ commitment to Kyiv’s defense. Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy were opening the meeting yesterday, which gets under way as Russia accelerated its aerial and ground attacks against Ukraine with another night of pounding missile and drone attacks on Kyiv. Italian organizers said that 100 official delegations were attending, as were 40 international organizations and development banks. There are
TARIFF ACTION: The US embassy said that the ‘political persecution’ against former Brazilian president Jair Bolsonaro disrespects the democratic traditions of the nation The US and Brazil on Wednesday escalated their row over US President Donald Trump’s support for former Brazilian president Jair Bolsonaro, with Washington slapping a 50 percent tariff on one of its main steel suppliers. Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva threatened to reciprocate. Trump has criticized the prosecution of Bolsonaro, who is on trial for allegedly plotting to cling on to power after losing 2022 elections to Lula. Brasilia on Wednesday summoned Washington’s top envoy to the country to explain an embassy statement describing Bolsonaro as a victim of “political persecution” — echoing Trump’s description of the treatment of Bolsonaro as
The tale of a middle-aged Chinese man, or “uncle,” who disguised himself as a woman to secretly film and share videos of his hookups with more than 1,000 men shook China’s social media, spurring fears for public health, privacy and marital fidelity. The hashtag “red uncle” was the top trending item on China’s popular microblog Sina Weibo yesterday, drawing at least 200 million views as users expressed incredulity and shock. The online posts told of how the man in the eastern city of Nanjing had lured 1,691 heterosexual men into sexual encounters at his home that he then recorded and distributed online. The
Hundreds of protesters marched through the Mexican capital on Friday denouncing gentrification caused by foreigners, with some vandalizing businesses and shouting “gringos out!” The demonstration in the capital’s central area turned violent when hooded individuals smashed windows, damaged restaurant furniture and looted a clothing store. Mexico City Government Secretary Cesar Cravioto said 15 businesses and public facilities were damaged in what he called “xenophobic expressions” similar to what Mexican migrants have suffered in other countries. “We are a city of open arms... there are always ways to negotiate, to sit at the table,” Cravioto told Milenio television. Neighborhoods like Roma-Condesa
RSS