NCP Secretariat meeting to discuss Speaker, province name and capitals

KATHMANDU, Jan 2: A meeting of the Nepal Communist Party (NCP) Secretariat, to be held today afternoon, is expected to finalize the candidate for the position of Speaker, which has laid vacant since the resignation of Krishna Bahadur Mahara following the rape attempt allegation on Oct 1.

As the two chiefs of the ruling party have failed to name a candidate for the position, the winter session of the parliament has been postponed two times already. The next meeting is scheduled for Jan 12.

Prime Minister K P Sharma Oli is backing two-time former Speaker Subash Nembapossng for the position saying he has experience while party Chair Pushpa Kamal Dahal is fixated over electing Agni Sapkota for the position arguing the Speaker should be from Maoist faction.

It has been understood that today’s Secretariat meeting will try to establish a consensus on a common candidate for the election of Speaker.

Likewise, the meeting is also expected to discuss the candidates for the upcoming National Assembly election.

The NCP has forged a two-point deal with Rastriya Janata Party Nepal (RJPN) agreeing to support each other in the NA election.

Also, the meeting will decide on the names and the capitals of Province 1 and 5.

The NCP has already instructed the provincial party committee of the Province 3 to pick Bagmati and Hetuada as the name and the capital of the province. The ruling party’s move has been described as against the constitution and federalism since only provincial assemblies have the right to decide the names and the capitals of their province.

The provinces have struggled to finalize the name and the capital of their respective provinces due to divided votes in their province assemby.