Parliament Secretariat told to fix schedule for election of speaker, NA chair
An all-party meeting held today directed the Parliament Secretariat to fix tentative schedule for election of the Speaker and deputy speaker of the House of Representatives.
The meeting also directed the Parliament Secretariat to prepare schedule for election of chair and deputy chair of the National Assembly.
Representatives all five national political parties — CPN-UML, Nepali Congress, CPN-Maoist Centre, Rastriya Janata Party-Nepal and Federal Socialist Forum-Nepal were present in the meeting, according to Parliament Secretariat Spokesperson Bharat Raj Gautam.
“We also discussed the election of president and vice-president, the president’s address to the joint sitting of the House and several other important issues,” said Gautam. He said the Parliament Secretariat would submit a tentative schedule for the elections in the next meeting slated for March 4.
Election of Speaker and deputy speaker of HoR, and chair and deputy chair of NA should be held within 15 days of the first meeting of the House, as per the constitutional provision. Similarly, Prime Minister KP Sharma Oli has to win the vote of confidence from the Parliament by March 17.
Oli, who was appointed the prime minister on February 17, has to win the trust vote within a month, as per the constitutional provision.
Gautam said members of HoR and NA would take oath of office and secrecy on March 4, a day before the first meeting of the Houses. Senior-most members of both Houses will take the oath of office and secrecy from the president first. They will then administer the oath of office and secrecy to the lawmakers of their respective houses.
Gautam said Mahendra Raya Yadav was the senior-most member of HoR and Tara Devi Bhatta the senior-most member of NA. Senior members of both Houses will take the oath of office and secrecy from the president at 1:00pm. Swearing in of the HoR and NA members would be held at 4:00pm and 5:00pm respectively on March 4.
Secretary at the Parliament Secretariat Him Lal Subedi said lawmakers would be eligible to attend House meeting after swearing in. He said the secretariat had asked the lawmakers to be present with victory certificate and citizenship certificate for the swearing in ceremony.
The Parliament Secretariat also informed the all-party meeting about the programme of the first House meeting slated for March 5.
Secretary Subedi said the Parliament Secretariat had provided copies of internal procedure to representatives of political parties.
CPN-Maoist Centre leader Dinanath Sharma, who was present in the meeting, said the next meeting slated for March 4 at 10:00am would approve the tentative schedule of the elections and other programmes of both Houses. He said representatives of all five national political parties would pass the internal procedure of the Houses.
Meanwhile, the RJP-N leader Brishes Chandra Lal, who was present in the all-party meeting, demanded that Resham Chaudhary, who was elected from Kailali-1 in the parliamentary election, be allowed to take the oath of office and secrecy.
Chaudhary, who was indicted in Tikapur carnage was remanded to judicial custody on Monday by Kailali District Court. Lal said he had drawn attention of General Secretary of the Parliament Secretariat Manohar Prasad Bhattarai to allow Chaudhary to participate in the House business. “House should let Chaudhary participate in its business, as a lot of people allegedly involved in criminal offences have taken part in the House business in the past,” said Lal. He said the allegation against Chaudhary was yet to be proven.