Nepal, July 23 -- The attendance of party chairpersons, parliamentary party leaders, the prime minister, former prime ministers and ministers at parliamentary sittings has remained low. The latest data from the Parliament Secretariat show that several senior ministers holding key portfolios have frequently been absent from parliamentary meetings.

According to the data, Prime Minister Balendra Shah and former Prime Minister Pushpa Kamal Dahal have each attended only five of the 39 parliamentary sittings held during the first and second sessions.

Among ministers, Energy, Water Resources and Irrigation Minister Biraj Bhakta Shrestha attended six sittings, Foreign Minister Shishir Khanal attended seven, while Education and Sports Minister ...