Nepali PM set to address World Economic Forum Meet; PM Oli faces MPs’ questions in parliament

Kathmandu / Jan 18: In a first, Prime Minister KP Sharma Oli will lead a Nepali delegation to 49th Annual Meeting of The World Economic Forum at Davos, Switzerland on January 20, 2019, officials informed.

The prime minister will address as a panelist on two separate sessions on ‘Strategic Outlook on South Asia and “Shaping the Future of Democracy” on January 22 and 23 in the WEF annual meeting.

Likewise, PM Oli is also scheduled to address an informal gathering of World Economic Leaders on the theme of “The End of Global Trade as We Know It?”, Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MoFA) informed.

Minister for Foreign Affairs Pradeep Gyawali, Minister for Finance Yuba Raj Khatiwada, other high ranking officials and his spouse Radhika Shakya will accompany Prime Minister Oli.

The delegation is scheduled to head back home on 26th January.

PM Oli faces MPs’ questions in parliament

Prime Minister KP Sharma Oli has reiterated the government’s commitment to good governance and development.

Taking questions from MPs in the question-answer session for the first time in line with the provision of the Parliament Regulations in the meeting of the House of Representatives today, he said the government would adopt a zero tolerance policy towards any type of irregularities.

Khagaraj Adhikari was the first lawmaker to forward question to the Prime Minister who sought an answer from the government regarding the news about money laundering and illegal investment by Nepalis in foreign countries as published in the media.

In response, Prime Minister Oli said, “Nothing of the sort incurring loss to the country and putting it in disadvantage would be tolerated. The government is committed to implementing the law to curb such illegal acts. We have known about this through news.”

He added that the government would move ahead as per the law, and would investigate into the issue and find out the facts. PM Oli said the government was aware regarding the illegal investments and its attention was drawn to the matter.

Dr Minendra Rijal wanted to know whether the government was preparing to dissolve the hospitals established in the names of former Prime Minister duo Girija Prasad Koirala and Sushil Koirala, who have made significant contribution to Nepali politics.

Answering Dr Rijal’s question, Prime Minister Oli said discussions were being held with the leaders of the Nepali Congress on this topic. He said there was some dispute regarding the hospital in the name of Sushil Koirala in Banke and the government was conscious about how to proceed ahead on this after resolving it.

Regarding the hospital in Tanahu in the name of Girija Prasad Koirala, the PM said he has begun discussion as to how it could be made to function properly as it has been found that it would not function only by providing respiratory services.

He made it clear that the government had no any plan of dissolving or ruining these two hospitals. RSS