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DP Aryal Elected Unopposed as Speaker of the House of Representatives
Author
NEPSE TRADING
Kathmandu — DP Aryal has been elected unopposed as the Speaker of Nepal’s House of Representatives. The announcement was made during Sunday’s parliamentary meeting by senior-most member Arjun Narsingh KC, who formally declared Aryal’s election.The nomination process for the Speaker’s position had been scheduled for last Friday. Aryal was the sole candidate to file his nomination, paving the way for his uncontested election. According to the House of Representatives regulations, if only one nomination is registered, the presiding member declares the candidate elected unopposed after a proposer and seconder express their support in the House.The ruling Rastriya Swatantra Party (RSP), which holds a clear majority in the 275-member House, did not face any challenge from opposition parties. RSP alone has 182 seats, while Nepali Congress holds 38 seats, CPN-UML 25, CPN 17, Labour Culture Party 7, and Rastriya Prajatantra Party (RPP) 5 seats. Given this strong majority, opposition parties refrained from fielding a candidate for the Speaker’s position.With the Speaker now elected, the process for selecting the Deputy Speaker will move forward. The date and time for the Deputy Speaker’s election will be determined by the newly elected Speaker. Parliamentary rules require that the Speaker and Deputy Speaker should ideally be from different political parties and of different genders. However, in the case of a single nomination, both positions may be filled by members of the same party.Before assuming office, the Speaker must take an oath of office and secrecy before the President. Similarly, the Deputy Speaker will take the oath before the Speaker in the presence of the President.Both the Speaker and Deputy Speaker serve as members of the Constitutional Council, making the Deputy Speaker’s selection particularly significant. As per Article 284 of the Constitution of Nepal, the Constitutional Council, chaired by the Prime Minister, recommends appointments to key constitutional bodies such as the Chief Justice, the Commission for the Investigation of Abuse of Authority, and the Election Commission.
