NC and other party leaders interrupted Deputy Prime Minister and Finance Minister Bharat Mohan Adhikari frequently while he was reading out the budget in parliament.[break]
NC parliamentary party leader Ram Chandra Paudel, in the midst of the finance minister´s presentation, demanded that the House meeting form a probe committee to investigate the information leakage and the speaker announce a probe committee then and there.
Paudel said there was no point of the finance minister presenting the budget in parliament as it was already public through mass media. "The secrecy of the budget has already been disclosed through the media and we don´t need to listen to the finance minister´s speech here. We demand that the speaker announce formation of a parliamentary probe committee right here," Paudel said.
Former Finance Minister and NC leader Dr Ram Sharan Mahat, addressing the parliament meeting prior to the budget presentation, termed the information leak as a serious crime committed by the government. "It is a grave financial crime and the prime minister and ministers have no moral ground to stay in the office any longer. Both the prime minister and finance minister should resign immediately on moral grounds," said Mahat.
The NC leaders accused the government of disrespecting the parliament and keeping the lawmakers in dark by leaking the crucial information prior to presenting it in the House. Mahat left the parliament building saying that there was no meaning of listening to the finance minister´s speech.
The NC leaders weren´t satisfied by the finance minister´s clarification even after Adhikari from the rostrum apologized for whatever had happened.
Hridayesh Tripathi of Tarai-Madhes Democratic Party, Dr Prakash Chandra Lohani of Rastriya Janashakti Party, Pratibha Rana of Rastriya Prajatantra Party and two other lawmakers Bishwendra Paswan and Rukmini Chaudhary also slammed the government for failing to maintain budget secrecy.
The speaker had to request the opposition leaders to allow the finance minister to present the budget. Unrelenting opposition lawmakers took their seats only after the speaker expressed commitment to form a probe panel.
Parliamentary probe committee formed
The parliament formed a probe committee to investigate the information leakage. NC Chief Whip Laxman Ghimire heads the panel and Maoist and CPN-UML chief whips -- Posta Bahadur Bogati and Bhim Acharya -- and other lawmakers Jaypuri Gharti, Ramesh Lekhak, Hirdayesh Tripathi and Kalpana Rana are members.
The finance minister also tabled the finance bill at the parliament meeting. Deliberations on the bill will begin Saturday morning.
Govt-UDMF deal paves way for budget
Earlier in the day, the government had agreed to move ahead with political consensus to expedite peace process, promulgate new constitution through Constituent Assembly and ensure balanced development of the country as demanded by United Democratic Madhesi Front (UDMF).
The government also expressed commitment to start parleys with political parties to forge understanding on the issues and take seriously the demands put forth by the UDMF and other political parties in the CA.
Budget visionless, lacks relief programs for people: Bhattarai
The main coalition partner UCPN (Maoist), has criticized the budget as "visionlesss and lacking in focus".
"The budget fails to give any direction. It is simply a continuation of the past budget and there are no concrete programs to provide immediate relief to the people," Vice-chairman Dr Baburam Bhattarai told media after the budget presentation. "But we cannot stand against the budget since we are in the government," he added.
Dr Bhattarai also among those demanding a probe into the information leakage.
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