Kathmandu, December 19
The ruling Nepal Communist Party has agreed to let its leader and deputy speaker Shiva Maya Tumbahamphe chair the first meeting of the next session of the House of Representatives. President Bidya Devi Bhandari has summoned the meeting this Friday afternoon.
Though the parliamentary regulations allow the deputy speaker to carry out duties of the speaker in the speaker’s absence, the law says the speaker begins and ends the House session. In the absence of speaker after Krishna Bahadur Mahara’s resignation in October, Tumbahamphe has been leading the House, but some have raised questions.
Similarly, the ruling party is pressing Tumbahamphe to resign from the position so that the party can file candidacy for the speaker. Because the constitution has a provision for speaker and deputy from different parties, the party cannot contest the election unless Tumbahamphe resigns. But staking her claim on the position, Tumbahamphe is refusing to step down.
In this context, the NCP parliamentary party’s deputy leader Subas Chandra Nembang mediated between the party leadership and Tumbahamphe and convinced that Tumbahamphe would chair the first meeting and announce the schedule for the speaker’s election before submitting the resignation, according to sources.
The NCP is yet to make any decision about who will contest the speaker’s election.
