KATHMANDU, July 21: Although ministers have begun regularly participating in question-and-answer (Q&A) sessions in the House of Representatives (HoR) following the implementation of the House of Representatives Regulations, 2026, Prime Minister Balendra Shah has yet to face a formal parliamentary Q&A session.
Under the new House regulations, the Speaker may allocate the first hour of a House meeting during the first week of each Nepali calendar month for lawmakers to question the prime minister on important matters directly related to the Office of the Prime Minister or the prime minister's responsibilities.
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The HoR has been adjourned until July 30 after its last meeting on July 15, making it likely that the Q&A session with the prime minister will be held when the House reconvenes. The new regulations were endorsed by the House on July 2.
Earlier, on July 1, Prime Minister Shah made an unscheduled appearance in the House and responded to questions raised by lawmakers after opposition parties criticized his remarks related to India. However, that interaction was not part of the formal parliamentary Q&A mechanism.
Since assuming office about three and a half months ago, Shah has attended seven HoR meetings. According to officials at the Parliament Secretariat, previous prime ministers also did not consistently attend parliamentary meetings on a regular basis.
In parliamentary democracies, a prime minister's presence in Parliament and accountability to lawmakers are considered essential. In the United Kingdom, the prime minister answers lawmakers' questions every week, while in India, the prime minister also participates in Parliament's question hour.
Nepal introduced the parliamentary Q&A system to strengthen the prime minister's accountability to Parliament. Attention is now focused on when Prime Minister Shah will begin participating in the formal process.
