While lawmakers from the Rastriya Swatantra Party (RSP) and the Rastriya Prajatantra Party (RPP)—the fourth and the fifth largest parties in the House of Representatives, respectively—continued obstruction of the House on Sunday demanding Home Minister Ramesh Lekhak’s resignation, Speaker Devraj Ghimire carried forward the scheduled business.

Before the House proceedings, Speaker Ghimire discussed the matter with RSP and RPP leaders, but there was no positive outcome.

The CPN (Maoist Centre), the main opposition that had been leading the obstruction of the House for the same reason, on Friday reached a two-point deal with the ruling Nepali Congress and CPN-UML to end the obstruction of Parliament that began on May 27. The other opposition parties carried on their protest. The Maoist Centre’s decision has drawn sharp criticism from its former allies on the opposition bench.

When the opposition parties lambasted the Maoist Centre for its agreement with the ruling parties, Deputy General Secretary Barshaman Pun defended the deal.

While criticism mounts from various quarters over the agreement, Pun, speaking during a theoretical discussion on the annual estimates of revenue and expenditures in Sunday’s House meeting, rejected claims that his party had reached the compromise for the sake of sparing party leader Agni Sapkota, who faces a murder-after-abduction case. Pun said there was no truth in such accusations.

Pun asserted that the issue of visit visas involves genuine public concerns and problems, and that a one-month timeframe has been set to address these matters. He maintained that the Maoist Centre remains committed to resolving the visa scam.

“An impartial investigation is necessary—this is our demand,” Pun said. “What has come to light is serious and must be investigated. However, this is not a new issue as it also happened in the past.”

The Supreme Court on June 4 issued an order directing the authorities to initiate a criminal investigation against former Speaker Sapkota, also the vice-chair of the Maoist Centre. Sapkota is named in the abduction and murder of Arjun Bahadur Lama in 2005 during the decade-long insurgency, and the Maoist Centre is accused of trading off the resumption of House with a two-point agreement to save Sapkota.

According to the agreement, the government has committed to cooperating with the Commission for Investigation of Abuse of Authority (CIAA), which is already probing the visit visa scam. It has also pledged to undertake necessary policy, legal, and structural reforms to address systemic weaknesses in Nepal’s immigration process.

The CIAA launched its investigation with a raid of the Immigration Office at the Tribhuvan International Airport on May 22. During the action, it detained Joint-secretary Tirtharaj Bhattarai and seized several documents indicating irregularities. The probe has since widened to include the home minister’s secretariat officials.

Suspicions over political interference were rife as Bhattarai was transferred to the home ministry after the commencement of a probe into the visa scam. The CIAA alleges that individuals were sent abroad on visit visas in exchange for large sums of money.

RSP and RPP have rejected the Maoist Centre’s agreement with the government, calling it a betrayal of the joint opposition effort. They argue that the CIAA’s investigation alone is insufficient, and have reiterated their demands for Minister Lekhak’s resignation and the formation of an independent investigation panel—either parliamentary or judicial.

When Speaker Ghimire pushed forward the parliamentary session, RSP lawmakers chanted slogans demanding a probe panel, while another opposition party, RPP, boycotted the session.

“Until the government decides to form a panel to investigate Home Minister Lekhak, we will continue our protest in the House,” said RPP chief whip Gyanendra Bahadur Shahi.

After the Maoist Centre agreed to allow parliamentary proceedings, the CPN (Unified Socialist), which had previously obstructed the House, ended its obstruction too. On Sunday, when the RPP also boycotted the session, the RSP was left to protest alone at the well. Then their demonstration appeared weaker.

However, RSP leaders have said they will continue to obstruct parliamentary proceedings until a committee is formed to look into the visit visa issue.

“As the issue of visit visas has drawn not only national but also international attention, we will maintain our protest until a proper inquiry is set up,” said RSP lawmaker Shishir Khanal. “We will continue to protest even if we are alone.”

On Friday, the Sanghiya Loktantrik Morcha, a group of Madhesi parties, raised its voice against the visit visa scam and called for an optimum penalty against its culprits. However, no Madhesi party stood with the RSP on Sunday to seek Lekhak's resignation.

Three Madhesi parties, which are members of the Sanghiya Loktantrik Morcha, support the KP Sharma Oli government. Janamat, Janata Samajbadi Party Nepal and Loktantrik Samajbadi Party have a total of 15 lawmakers in the House.

“Not all parties in the Sanghiya Loktantrik Morcha are represented in the House,” Abdul Khan, a Janamat Party lawmaker, said. “From the meeting of Morcha, we called for a fair and impartial investigation into the visit visa scam. It is not only directed at Home Minister Lekhak.”

The RSP has been seeking a probe panel and Lekhak's resignation on moral grounds. When the RSP was trying to frame Lekhak, an influential Congress leader, on ethical grounds, Congress chief whip Shayam Kumar Ghimire expressed concern that the Election Commission’s records still list Rabi Lamichhane, who is in judicial custody for investigation into the charges of cooperatives funds misuse, as the party president.

Ghimire asked RSP lawmakers to follow ethics and morality within their own party before searching for the qualities in others.

“How can such a party teach others about morality?” Ghimire questioned, speaking in the special session of Parliament.

RSP lawmakers call it a tactic to divert the main issue because the ruling parties have no definite answers.

Rajendra Pandey, deputy parliamentary leader of the Unified Socialist, criticised the way the House meeting was conducted on Sunday. Running the House amid the opposition's protest is unparliamentary, he said.