KATHMANDU, April 8: The House of Representatives (HoR) is set to elect a Deputy Speaker on April 10, Speaker Dol Prasad Aryal informed during a meeting of the lower house on Wednesday.
The announcement follows Aryal's election as Speaker on April 5. Aryal was elected unopposed after filing the sole candidacy for the position.
According to Rule 7 of the House of Representatives Regulations, provisions are in place for the election of both the Speaker and the Deputy Speaker. Following the election of the Speaker, the process to elect the Deputy Speaker has now moved forward.
Post of Deputy Speaker remains vacant in HoR
The regulations state that the Deputy Speaker election must be held on a date and time fixed by the Speaker. In line with this provision, Speaker Aryal has scheduled the election for April 10.
The constitution requires that the Speaker and Deputy Speaker be from different political parties and of different genders. However, if only one party is represented in the House, or if there is a single candidacy despite multiple parties, both positions may be held by members of the same party.
Currently, six parties are represented in the House of Representatives, including the Rastriya Swatantra Party (RSP). The RSP holds a near two-thirds majority with 182 seats in the 275-member House. The Nepali Congress has 38 seats, CPN-UML 25, the Nepal Communist Party 17, the Shram Sanskriti Party 7, and the Rastriya Prajatantra Party (RPP) 5.
Given the RSP’s numerical dominance, the candidate supported by the party is expected to secure the Deputy Speaker’s position.
