Maoist lawmakers had also vandalized furniture and microphones during the incident.[break]
Sources at the parliament secretariat said the speaker suggested to the Maoist leaders to take action against the guilty while arguing that the present parliamentary regulations doesn´t invest the power on him.
Nembang who had seen the footage of the incident, categorically, named the lawmakers involved to the party leadership. Lekhraj Bhatta, Surya Man Dong, Prem Bahadur Tamang and Bhagat Bahadur Baduwal were among those who were clearly seen involved in manhandling.
The speaker observed that activities like snatching documents from a minister, tearing them into pieces and running amok inside a parliament was a sheer violation of parliamentary conduct.
"But I can´t take action against them as the existing regulation doesn´t allow me to do so. Therefore, the party leadership should take action against them," the sources quoted Nembang as telling to the Maoist leaders. He had also suggested that the Maoist leaders commit during a parliament meeting that they wouldn´t let such incident repeat in future.
The Maoists had earlier claimed that the incident occurred because the government tried to present a full-fledged budget violating an agreement arrived at beforehand.
Sources said the speaker had also briefed a meeting of parliament´s Business Advisory Committee, which is represented by all the political parties, about his initiatives to punish the guilty.
"I recognized the lawmakers involved only after the secretariat submitted a report to me after a thorough investigation," the sources quoted him as saying. He had also informed the Maoist leaders about the secretariat´s findings that furniture, microphones and other physical infrastructure worth over Rs 400,000 were damaged during the incident.
"There should be proper legal provisions to ensure that no such incident takes place in future. Therefore, I have drawn the attention of the political party and all others concerned," Nembang told Republica. He said he has suggested to the leaders to add a provision in the regulation that would make it possible to take action against the guilty even later after a probe committee investigates such incidents.
However, Dr. Prakash Chandra Lohani, who regularly participates at the BAC meetings, said he is unaware of such a proposal. "I am a regular participant at the BAC meetings. But I don´t remember him floating the idea to incorporate such a provision," Lohani said, adding a provision was indeed needed to ensure that such attacks wouldn´t repeat in future. "But if the speaker is sincere about making the amendment, he should immediately take initiatives to form a drafting committee for the purpose."
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