Devraj Ghimire, a lawmaker from CPN-UML has been elected the Speaker of the House of Representatives (HoR) after claiming a majority in a voting procedure held on Thursday.
Ghimire and Nepali Congress lawmaker Ishwori Devi Neupane had filed their candidacy for the post of speaker of the HoR.
A total of 268 members took part in the voting today and 167 votes were cast in favour of Ghimire whereas his competitor Neupane received 100 votes and one lawmaker remained neutral.
Ghimire’s candidacy was proposed by UML Vice-Chair Subash Nembang and backed by CPN (Maoist Centre)’s Chief Whip Hitraj Pandey, Rastriya Swatantra Party Chair and Deputy PM Rabi Lamichhane and Rastriya Prajatantra Party Chair and Deputy PM Rajendra Lingden.
Meanwhile, the candidacy of Neupane was proposed by General-secretary of Nepal Congress Bishwa Prakash Sharma and backed by CPN (Unified Socialist) leader Prakash Jwala.
Ghimire had earlier won the parliamentary election from Jhapa Constituency-2, whereas Neupane was elected under the proportional representation system.
The Constitution requires the lower house to elect the Speaker within 15 days of the commencement of the first meeting and either Speaker or Deputy Speaker shall be a woman and shall belong to different parties.
