Nepalese parliament to start process to pick new speaker next week

The Lower House of Nepal parliament will start the process next week to pick a new House Speaker.

A meeting of the House of Representatives has been called on December 27 to initiate the process as the post of House Speaker has been vacant ever since Krishna Bahadur Mahara resigned over a rape allegation.

In the absence of House Speaker, the Winter Session of Nepal's lower house started from Friday chaired by Deputy Speaker Shiva Maya Tumbahamphe.

This time the election for the Speaker is seen with much caution as the Constitutional provision demands the Speaker and the Deputy Speaker should be representatives from different party and sex.

"The election under Clause (1) shall be so held that there is one woman as either Speaker or Deputy Speaker, and the Speaker and the Deputy Speaker of the House of Representatives shall be representatives from different parties," states the Constitution.

Outgoing Speaker Mahara, who represented then CPN (Maoist Center) and the current Deputy Speaker Shivamaya Tumbahamphe, was from the former CPN-UML at the time of their election. Later, the two parties were merged to form the NCP.

But the ruling party refused to make any change to the two posts, arguing that they were no longer with any party as they had already resigned their party positions immediately after being elected Speaker and Deputy Speaker.