With the Election Commission (EC) submitting its final report, preparations are underway for the swearing-in of the newly elected members of parliament (MPs).
There is a constitutional provision that the members of the House of Representatives elected under the first-past-the-post (FPTP) and proportional representation (PR) electoral system must take an oath before participating in the proceedings of the House. The Constitution of Nepal and the HoR Rules, 2079 have clear provisions regarding the oath and the role of the senior member.
According to the data available in the House of Representatives this time, the senior most member is Nepali Congress leader Arjun Narasingh KC who is 78 years old.
The septuagenarian KC will administer the oath to the other HoR-elect MPs. According to parliamentary tradition, the President will administer the oath to the senior member first. Then the senior member will administer the oath to all other MPs.
According to Article 88 of the Constitution of Nepal, a member of each House of the Federal Parliament must take an oath in accordance with federal law before participating in a meeting of the House or any of its committees for the first time.
According to Article 91 (5), in the absence of an election for the Speaker and Deputy Speaker, the meeting of the House of Representatives shall be presided over by the senior most member among the members present in terms of age.
Arjun Narsingh KC will conduct the meeting of the House until the new Speaker and Deputy Speaker are elected. The first meeting chaired by the senior member will set the agenda for the election of the Speaker. This special responsibility of the senior member will end once the Speaker is elected.
Even if the Election Commission issues a certificate of election, the MPs get the full rights of ‘people’s representatives’ only after taking the oath. No MP can enter the meeting of the House, vote or participate in parliamentary committees without taking the oath.
The Election Commission has already announced that 165 MPs have been elected through FPTP and 110 under PR electoral system. The Commission is scheduled to distribute certificates to proportional representation MPs at 11:30 am on Thursday.
Rastriya Swatantra Party (RSS) has won 125 seats through FPTP, while it has 57 MPs through PR electoral category. However, RSP has three MPs over 60 years of age in direct representation and one MP in proportional representation. All of them are younger than KC.
NC won 18 direct seats and 20 proportional seats. Notably, 10 of these representatives are aged 60 or older, with five elected via direct representation and five through the proportional system.
UML has won nine seats under FPTP electoral system and 16 through proportional representation. Of these, six PR and two FPTP MPs are over 60 years old. Similarly, NCP, which won eight seats through FPTP and nine through PR electoral system, also has 5 MPs over 60 years old. Of these, two are directly elected and 3 are proportionally elected.
Shram Sanskriti Party, which won seven seats, and Rastriya Prajatantra Party, which won five seats, also have one MP each over 60 years old. Similarly, independent elected MP Mahabir Pun is also 71 years old.
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