Kathmandu, March 4
The Rastriya Janata Party’s Mahanta Thakur will administer the oath of office and secrecy to fellow members of Parliament later today, officials say.
The 75-year-old was given the responsibility after fellow party leader Mahendra Raya Yadav informed the Federal Parliament Secretariat that could not be present at the oath-taking ceremony. Yadav said that he took the decision as a show of respect to the House. Although official records show that Yadav is older than Thakur, in reality, Yadav is around 10 years younger than the veteran Madheshi leader.
The oath ceremony for members of both the house is taking place later today, said Bharat Raj Gautam, spokesperson for the Parliament Secretariat. The first meeting of the assemblies will take place tomorrow.
Thakur, who is also the coordinator of the RJP, will first take his oath of office and secrecy from President Bidya Devi Bhandari amid a function at Office of the President. As per regulations, the eldest member of Parliament also chairs the meeting until a Speaker is elected.
