KATHMANDU: Rastriya Prajatantra Party (RPP) lawmaker Gyan Bahadur Shahi strongly criticized the government’s plans to solely penalize ordinary citizens under the guise of enforcing traffic rules.

Speaking during Sunday’s House of Representatives meeting, Shahi reacted to recent police proposals for increased traffic fines, arguing that laws should not exist purely to punish the public while letting the state off the hook.

He demanded the formulation of a reciprocal legal framework where the state is held equally accountable and forced to pay compensation and fines to citizens for its own administrative and infrastructural shortcomings.

Shahi further urged the government to pass legislation that allows authorities to file “attempted murder” charges against negligent government bodies and contractors when dilapidated road conditions result in fatal accidents.

Simultaneously, Shram Sanskriti Party lawmaker Aaren Rai turned the parliamentary floor’s attention to foreign policy, questioning how Prime Minister Balendra (Balen) Shah’s recent controversial remarks regarding the border could be deemed beneficial to the country.

Rai clarified that the opposition’s intense backlash was not merely “protest for the sake of protest,” asserting that the nation must always come before political parties.

He demanded that if the premier’s statements are found to be detrimental to national interest, they must be immediately expunged from the parliamentary record.

Rai also criticized the Prime Minister for evading direct accountability within the legislature, pointing out that the head of government chose to offer clarifications during a visit to Chitwan rather than addressing the queries raised on the House floor.