Members of parliament taking oath today
KATHMANDU, March 4: The newly elected members of House of Representatives and National Assemblies of the federal parliament are taking oath of office and secrecy today.
The first session of parliament is scheduled for tomorrow at 4 am, as summoned by President Bidya Devi Bhandari on recommendation of Prime Minister K P Sharma Oli in accordance with the Article 93 (10).
Nepal’s federal parliament is bicameral and the upper house consists of 59 members (56 elected from the February 7 National Assembly election and three nominated by the President) while the lower house has 275 members (165 elected from first-past-the-post system and remaining 110 from proportional representation system).
The House of Representatives election was held in two phases–November 26 and December 7–last year.
According to federal parliament secretariat’s general secretary Manohar Prasad Bhattarai, A swearing-in ceremony for the House of Representatives members shall take place at 4.00 pm while the schedule for NA members has been fixed for 5.00 pm.
Before that, the senior- most members in terms of age of both houses shall take oath before the President at the Shital Niwas and they shall administer oath of office to remaining members of the respective houses.
Mahendra Ray Yadav would carry out the duties of the Speaker until the election of Speaker while Taradevi Bhatta would take charge of National Assembly Chairperson until the election for Chairperson.
Eighty-year-old Yadav of Rastriya Janata Party who had won the election from Sarlahi Constituency-2 is the senior most member in the lower house while 69-year-old Bhatta of the Nepali Congress is the senior most member in the NA.
However, Dr Yubraj Khatiwada, Ram Narayan Bidari and Dr Bimala Poudel, nominated to the NA three seats by the Head-of-the-State, shall not attend the swearing-in ceremony, owing to the Supreme Court order. The SC on February 25, in response to a joint writ registered by three people recommended for the nomination in the NA by the erstwhile Sher Bahadur Deuba-led government, issued an interlocutory order in the name of government and Office of the President, among others to stay their swearing.
The President’s move to set aside the erstwhile government’s decision and endorsing the recommendations of new government has been challenged in the court.
Likewise, two members in the House of Representatives (Resham Chaudhary, accused in the Kailali carnage, and former Deputy Inspector General of Police Nawaraj Silwal charged with forgery) are eligible for taking oath as the Secretariat has received no information in writing in this regard from the authorities concerned, said Secretariat Spokesperson Dr Bharat Raj Gautam.
So far the Secretariat has been officially informed that 44 members in the federal parliament, 38 to the House of Representatives and remaining six in the National Assembly, are taking oath in mother tongues. Swearing of parliament members in mother languages has been guaranteed by the constitution.
As per the provision, any member wishing to take oath of office and secrecy in respective mother language shall submit a text of the oath along with its translated copy (into mother language) to the federal parliament secretariat before three days of the swearing-in ceremony.
Spokesperson Dr Gautam said that consultation would be held among leaders of five political parties representing the Parliament at 10: am on Wednesday for the preparation of meeting agenda.
The Secretariat has prepared a draft of Interim Working Procedure as it has to be passed until the formulation of Work Operation Regulation.
PREPARATION OF SPEAKER AND DEPUTY-SPEAKER, CHAIRPERSON AND VICE-CHAIRPERSON ELECTIONS
The Constitution has the provision that election to Speaker and Deputy-Speaker of the House of Representatives and Chairperson and Vice-Chairperson of the National Assembly shall be held within 15 days after the first meeting of the federal parliament.
There is also a provision that Speaker and Deputy-Speaker as well as Chairperson and Vice-Chairperson shall be from different parties and different gender.
There is also a constitutional provision that the Prime Minister shall garner a vote of confidence at the House of Representatives within 30 days after being appointed to the post. The Secretariat is learnt to have been making preparations for so. Prime Minister Oli was appointed to the top executive post on February 15.