The Parliamentary Hearing Special Committee (PHSC) on Friday unanimously endorsed the nomination of Ayodhee Prasad Yadav as the chief election commissioner. He will head the Election Commission for the next five years.

After quizzing him for two hours, the committee approved his name for the post that has been lying vacant after the retirement of Neel Kantha Uprety last year. The Constitutional Council had on December 8 last year recommended him for the post. However, his appointment was pending for seven months in the absence of parliamentary hearing.

Article 245 of the Constitution of Nepal makes it mandatory for nominees to undergo parliamentary hearing for appointment to constitutional positions and as the head of a diplomatic mission.

Yadav will be appointed to the post by President Bidhya Devi Bhandari after the committee informs the President’s Office in writing about its decision.

The PHSC was formed last month after six months of disagreement among the parties. The committee formally started the hearing process on June 23, inviting complaints against the nominees for a total of three dozen constitutional posts and diplomatic missions and the chief justice. Yadav, who served as an election commissioner for six years since 2007, was reappointed in March 2013.

A writ was filed in the apex court against 16 persons including him and former chairman of Council of Ministers Khil Raj Regmi claiming that their appointment was illegal. A full bench of the SC has already squashed the writ.

“The committee unanimously endorsed his appointment after listening to his replies,” said Yogendra Chaudhary, a member of the committee. During the inquiry, he claimed that the EC was capable of holding the elections as per the government’s time frame given that all the prerequisites are met on time. The government has announced to hold the election of local bodies, state assemblies and federal parliament in December, 2017 April-May and 2017 December, respectively.

During his nine years in office, 60-year-old Yadav oversaw the distribution of voter ID cards and preparation of the election code of conduct. A gold medalist in Economics, Yadav is a PhD from Babasaheb Bhimrao Ambedkar Bihar University, Muzaffarpur, India.