Biratnagar/Pokhara, Feb 4

The first meeting of the assemblies of provinces 1 and 4 will be held in Biratnagar and Pokhara tomorrow.

On the eve of the first meeting of Province 1, an all-party meeting drafted an interim work procedure and formed a five-member committee to assist the speaker to run the House. The committee consists of a member each from the CPN-UML, Nepali Congress, CPN-Maoist Centre, Federal Socialist Forum-Nepal and Federal Democratic National Front.

The all-party meeting has decided to elect the speaker on February 12, while the deputy speaker will be elected on February 15. Sahajit Rai, deputy secretary at the Provincial Assembly, said polling for the posts would be held at 1:00pm.

The senior-most member, Om Prakash Sarawagi, will chair tomorrow’s meeting. A representative from each of the six parties will address the meeting. The first meeting of Province 4 assembly will begin at 11:00am tomorrow. The all-party meeting has prepared a schedule of one hour and 15 minutes for the first meeting in which the Interim Work Procedure Regulation will be tabled for ratification. The assembly will elect its speaker on February 15 and the deputy speaker on February 18.

Province 4 has 59 lawmakers. Rajiv Gurung alias Dipak Manange, who was elected from Manang, did not take the oath of office and secrecy and has been at large since the apex court upheld his five-year sentence in a case of attempted murder.