Women head majority committees
KATHMANDU, Sept 21: Heads of all 10 thematic committees of the House of Representatives have been elected unopposed. All the committees are set to announce the election results on Friday.
Ruling Nepal Communist Party (NCP) had fielded women candidates for six of the eight committees, while Nepali Congress (NC) and Federal Socialist Forum Nepal (FSFN) had fielded male candidates for the remaining two committees. This is the first time in parliamentary history that women have been elected heads of majority of the parliamentary committees. Parliamentary regulations have made it mandatory to elect at least 33 percent women in the committees.
10 candidates elected unopposed in local polls in Taplejung
Former deputy speaker Purna Kumari Subedi will head the the Agriculture, Cooperatives and Natural Resources Committee, former minister Jaypuri Gharti Education and Health Committee and former state minister Shashi Shrestha will chair the State Affairs and Good Governance Committee of the parliament.
Likewise, Pabitra Kharel Niroula, who was elected from Jhapa constituency-2, will head the International Relations Committee; Niru Pal, former chairperson of Yuwa Sangh Nepal, the youth wing of the then CPN-UML, will head the Women and Social Committee; and NCP leader Kalyani Khadka, wife of former lawmaker Ram Kumar Bhattarai, will chair the Development and Technology Committee.
Krishna Prasad Dahal, who defeated Rastriya Prajatantra Party Chairman Kamal Thapa in Makwanpur-1 in the parliamentary elections, has been elected head of the Finance Committee while Krishna Bhakta Pokharel, who was a contender for the post of law minister following the resignation of Sher Bahadur Tamang, has been elected head of the Law, Justice and Human Rights Committee of the parliament. Dahal and Pokhrel were the only two male candidates fielded by the NCP.
Similarly, NC leader Bharat Kumar Shah has been elected head of the Public Accounts Committee and Federal Socialist Forum Nepal leader Bimal Prasad Shreewastab to the the Industry, Commerce, Labour and Consumer Welfare Committee. Ruling NCP didn't field candidates for the two committees after the party decided to back Shah and Shreewastab.
Elections to pick the heads of two joint committees comprising lawmakers from both the upper and lower houses, are scheduled for next week. NCP leader Niru Devi Jairu, who represents Dadeldhura district, will lead the State Directives, Policy and Liability Implementation, Monitoring and Evaluation Committee while Rastriya Janata Party Nepal leader and former minister Laxman Lal Karna will head the Parliamentary Hearings Committee. Karna was already heading the committee for the last two months as eldest member.
