KATHMANDU: The Rastriya Swatantra Party (RSP) and Rastriya Prajatantra Party (RPP) boycotted Sunday’s meeting of the House of Representatives, staging a coordinated protest over a series of unresolved issues — including the visit visa scandal, allegations of bribery involving a sitting minister, and the Prime Minister’s Spain visit controversy.

As soon as the House session began, lawmakers from both parties stood up in protest.

Speaker Devraj Ghimire allowed RSP lawmaker Sumana Shrestha and RPP Chief Whip Gyan Bahadur Shahi to speak before the parties formally walked out of the chamber.

Speaking first, RSP’s Sumana Shrestha demanded a formal clarification from Prime Minister KP Sharma Oli regarding reports that several Nepalis did not return from Spain following his official visit.

“We demand an answer from the Prime Minister — why did Nepalis stay back in Spain? The recent Seville case only reinforces the urgency and relevance of this issue,” she said, referring to the scandal involving illegal overstay of Nepali nationals.

She also criticized the Good Governance Commission, saying, “The head of the commission (Prime Minister) claims he won’t even look at the faces of the corrupt — but where is he now? We want answers.”

Shrestha further accused Minister for Federal Affairs and General Administration Rajkumar Gupta of involvement in bribery and illicit “transfer deals” in the bureaucracy. “There are reports of setting deals on who gets transferred to the Kaski Land Revenue Office, or who goes to the Land Commission,” she said. “Now we understand why there was such urgency in passing the Land Bill.”
RSP demanded an immediate and independent investigation into these allegations.

Following Shrestha, RPP Chief Whip Gyan Bahadur Shahi reiterated his party’s long-standing demand for a parliamentary or high-level judicial probe into the visit visa scandal, which allegedly allowed misuse of government-authorized foreign trips.

“We have repeatedly called for an investigation committee, but our demands continue to be ignored,” Shahi said. “Until a formal committee is formed, our protest will continue.”

After voicing their demands, lawmakers from both RSP and RPP walked out of the meeting hall, announcing their boycott of the session.