Kathmandu, January 19

CPN-UML candidate Devraj Ghimire, 67, was elected speaker of the House of Representatives today.

He received 167 votes. Hundred lawmakers, including those from the Nepali Congress and the CPN (Unified Socialist), voted against him. Seven-party ruling alliance partners and some independent lawmakers voted in Ghimire's favour.

As Ghimire got enough votes to get elected as the speaker, the House did not have to put Ghimire's rival and Nepali Congress lawmaker Ishwari Neupane's candidacy to vote, said senior-most member of HoR Pashupati Shumsher JB Rana. Rana, who chaired the House meeting, declared Ghimire the winner.

In the 275-member HoR, 269 lawmakers were present. According to Secretary at the Parliament Secretariat Gopalnath Yogi, Nepal Workers and Peasants Party lawmaker Prem Suwal stayed neutral during the voting process and Rana didn't have to cast his vote. Six lawmakers were absent: CPN-Maoist Centre lawmaker Barshaman Pun, who is undergoing treatment for liver disease; NC lawmakers Manorama Sherchan, Bina Kumari Thanet, and Sapana Rajbhandari; UML lawmaker Laxmi Mahato Koiri, who has been indicted in a criminal case; and Nepali Congress lawmaker Tek Bahadur Gurung, who was elected from Manang, remains suspended.

Earlier, Nepali Congress General Secretary Bishwa Prakash Sharma, who had proposed Neupane's candidacy, urged all the lawmakers to vote for her calling her a suitable candidate for the speaker's post. He said Neupane's election could reflect the people's mandate, as the NC was the largest party in the HoR, and also because the House customarily belonged to the opposition in parliamentary democracies. He said her election to the post would help maintain the balance of power.

Senior UML leader Subas Chandra Nembang, who had proposed Ghimire's candidacy, said Ghimire would shoulder his role neutrally. Rastriya Prajatantra Party Chair Rajendra Lingden and Rastriya Swatantra Party Chair Rabi Lamichhane, who had seconded Ghimire's candidacy, also spoke in his favour, urging lawmakers to vote for him.

A version of this article appears in the print on January 20, 2023, of The Himalayan Times.