The House of Representatives under the Federal Parliament is getting a new speaker on Thursday (January 19).
According to the Parliament Secretariat, voting for the election of the Speaker will be held in the House of Representatives meeting to be held in the afternoon today.
On behalf of the ruling coalition, Devraj Ghimire of the CPN (UML) and Ishwari Neupane of the opposition Nepali Congress filed their nominations for the speakership on Wednesday afternoon.
Ghimire was proposed by UML Vice Chairman Subas Nemwang as a candidate for the post while his candidacy was seconded by Hitraj Pandey, Rajendra Lingden and Ravi Lamichhane.
Similarly, Neupane’s proposer is NC General Secretary Bishwa Prakash Sharma and her candidacy was seconded by leader Prakash Jwala of CPN (Unified Socialist).
To become Speaker of the House of Representatives, one needs 138 votes out of the assembly's 275 members.
A total of 144 MPs are in favor of Ghimire, with UML’s 78, CPN Maoist Center’s 32, Rastriya Swatantra Party (RSP)’s 20 and Rastriya Prajatantra Party RPP’s 14.
The number of MPs supporting the Prachanda-led government is 169.
Ghimire was elected as a member of the House of Representatives from Jhapa 2, while Neupane is a proportional representation MP.
