Kathmandu, May 13 -- The refusal of the newly appointed Prime Minister Balendra Shah to address the first meeting of the House of Representatives on April 2 surprised not only political circles and parliamentary observers but also the wider public.

Shah, who entered Singha Durbar after taking the oath of office on March 27, faced public criticism and debate for failing to address Parliament.

Criticism intensified further on Monday when Prime Minister Shah walked out of the joint session of the federal parliament midway through President Ramchandra Paudel's presentation of the government's policies and programmes for the upcoming fiscal year-the first such policy document under the Shah-led administration. Neither the government nor the ...