First Session of the House of Representatives Begins Today

Kathmandu, April 2: The first session following the House of Representatives elections held on March 5 is commencing today. The meeting has been called for 2:00 PM at the multipurpose hall of the under-construction Federal Parliament Building in Singha Durbar.

On March 30, President Ram Chandra Paudel summoned the sessions of both houses of the Federal Parliament for today, acting on the recommendation of the Council of Ministers in accordance with the Constitution of Nepal.

Parliament Secretariat spokesperson Ekram Giri informed that all preparations including physical, security, technical, and human resources have been completed for the operation of the parliament meetings. The meeting of the Upper House (National Assembly) under the Federal Parliament will be held in the National Assembly Hall at the Federal Parliament Secretariat.

There is a constitutional provision that the President must call the session of the Federal Parliament within 30 days of the declaration of the final results of the House of Representatives election. The Election Commission submitted the 'House of Representatives Election 2082 Election Results Report' to the President on March 19.

In the 275-member House of Representatives, there are 182 members from the Rastriya Swatantra Party, 38 from the Nepali Congress, 25 from the Communist Party of Nepal (UML), 17 from the Nepali Communist party, seven from the Shram Sanskriti Party, five from the Rastriya Prajatantra Party (RPP), and one independent lawmaker.

Three Ordinances to be Tabled in the House of Representatives

Three ordinances are set to be presented in today's meeting. According to the tentative agenda, Home Minister Sudhan Gurung will present the 'Voters List (First Amendment) Ordinance 2082', the 'House of Representatives Member Election (First Amendment) Ordinance 2082', and the 'Nepal Special Service (Second Amendment) Ordinance 2082'.

Before that, the senior member and Speaker of the House, Arjun Narsingh KC, will read out the letter regarding the summoning of the session received from the President and the letters regarding the appointment of the Prime Minister and the formation of the Council of Ministers received from the Office of the President.

Federal Parliament Secretariat General Secretary Padma Prasad Pandey informed that the Speaker will present a proposal for approval to conduct proceedings according to the House of Representatives Regulations 2079 until the House of Representatives frames its own regulations as per Article 104 of the Constitution of Nepal.

The potential agenda for today also includes nominating members to preside over the meeting in the absence of the Speaker.

General Secretary Pandey further shared that there is an agenda for members to deliver their remarks on a party-wise basis on the occasion of the commencement of the session. In the same meeting, the Speaker will fix the date for the election of the Speaker of the House of Representatives in accordance with Rule 7 of the House of Representatives Regulations 2079.

At the end of the meeting, the Speaker will present condolence motions for Constituent Assembly members and former members Rishikesh Gautam, Mohammad Aftab Alam, Amod Prasad Upadhyay, Homnath Dahal, and Constituent Assembly and National Assembly member Baldev Bohora.