The Provincial Assembly meet of Province 3 commenced in Hetauda, Makwanpur district, at 1 pm on Thursday.

Province 3 made history today as it became the first among seven provinces to hold the assembly meeting.

Senior-most lawmaker of Province 3, Dormani Poudel chaired today’s assembly meet.

Elected lawmakers from Ramchhap, Dolakha, Sindhupalchok, Kavre, Rasuwa, Nuwakot, Dhading, Kathmandu, Bhaktapur, Chitwan, Lalitpur and Sindhuli had reached Hetauda, the temporary state Capital for the occasion.

The assembly meeting will pave the way for formation of the provincial governments which will be a clear departure from the centuries-old centralised system of governance into federalism, decentralising authority to the lower level. The constitution promulgated two years ago envisioned decentralising the country in three tiers—federal, provincial and local levels of governance.

Following the call from Governor Anuradha Koirala, the meeting of the largest province in terms of representatives will convene at 1pm. Governors hold the constitutional authority to call and end sessions of provincial assemblies. Article 183 of the statute requires the first provincial assembly meeting to be held within 20 days of election results.

The Election Commission made public the final results of the assemblies on January 17, the same day the Cabinet appointed the governors and announced the temporary capitals of the seven provinces.