Valley
Federal parliament convenes today
Newly elected members of the federal parliament took the oath of office on Sunday. The first session of the House of the Representatives (HoR) and the National Assembly (NA) will commence at the International Convention Centre at 4pm on Monday.Binod Ghimire
Newly elected members of the federal parliament took the oath of office on Sunday. The first session of the House of the Representatives (HoR) and the National Assembly (NA) will commence at the International Convention Centre at 4pm on Monday.
Clad in national dress and various cultural outfits, members of the HoR and the NA formally began their five-year tenure as people’s representatives on Sunday. This is the first ever bicameral parliament elected after 1999. The two Constituent Assemblies formed in 2008 and 2013 functioned as the unicameral legislature besides drafting the constitution.
Rastriya Janata Party, Nepal leader Mahantha Thakur administered the oath to the members of the Lower House. Going by the birth date mentioned in his citizenship, Mahendra Raya Yadav (80) was supposed to administer the oath as its oldest member. However, Yadav, whose age in the citizenship was 18 years higher than actual, remained absent. This led Thakur, 75, to conduct the ceremony.
Among the 275 members in the HoR, 270 took the oath on Sunday. Top Bahadur Rayamajhi, Dharma Shila Chapagain and Yadav remained absent citing personal reasons while Resham Chaudhary, who has been charged with masterminding the Tikapur carnage, is in police custody.
Records at the Parliament Secretariat show that 40 lawmakers from the HoR took their oath in 10 different languages other than Nepali. Former Deputy Inspector General of Nepal Police and newly-elected lawmaker Nawaraj Silwal, who is wanted by police in a document forgery case, also took the oath.
Lawmakers from the RJP-N and the Sanghiya Samajbadi Forum-Nepal, who had “disowned” the statute, swore by saying that “we have complete faith in the Constitution of Nepal”.
Thakur and Nepali Congress lawmaker Tara Devi Bhatta, the oldest member of the Upper House, were sworn in by President Bidya Devi Bhandari hours before the ceremony at the federal parliament. NA members were sworn in after those in the Lower House. Bhatta administered the oath to 54 members in the 59-strong House.
Yubaraj Khatiwada, Bimala Poudel Rai and Ram Narayan Bidari, who are the nominated members, were unable to take the oath on the day as the Supreme Court has stayed it until a final verdict on the case filed against their nomination. Another member Ramesh Prasad Yadav also failed to attend the ceremony.
“We have completed the political transition. From today our focus will be on taking the country on the path of prosperity as per the spirit of the Constitution of Nepal,” CPN-UML leader and former Speaker Subas Nembang told journalists after the oath.
Manohar Prasad Bhattarai, general secretary at the Secretariat, said Thakur and Bhatta will chair their respective Houses until the Speaker and deputy Speaker of the HoR, and the chair and vice-chair of the NA are elected.
Vote of confidence on March 11
KATHMANDU: Prime Minister KP Sharma Oli will seek the vote of confidence in Parliament on March 11, according to the Federal Parliament Secre-tariat. A meeting of the five national parties in the House of Representatives confirmed the date, Secretariat Spokesperson Bharat Raj Gautam said. The constitution requires the PM to seek the vote of confidence within 30 days of appointment. Oli was elected the PM on February 15. The meeting also endorsed the schedule for election of the House of Representatives Speaker and deputy speaker and National Assembly chairperson and vice-chairperson.
The speaker will be elected on March 10, deputy speaker on March 16, chairperson on March 30 and vice chairperson on March 18. (PR)