KATHMANDU, Dec 11: President Bidya Bhandari has summoned the winter session of parliament at 4 pm on December 20 upon the recommendations of the the government.

The Parliament Secretariat plans to start the process to elect a new speaker and deputy speaker from December 22, according to officials.

The post of speaker is vacant since October 1 after Krishna Bahadur Mahara’s resignation following allegation of attempted rape. 

He has been accused of attempting to rape a female staffer of the Parliament Secretariat. 

Deputy Speaker Shiva Maya Tumbahamphe said on Monday that she will resign before the start of the election process for speaker to pave the way for holding the election of both speaker and deputy speaker at the same time. “I will resign before the election process starts because one political party cannot hold both speaker and deputy speaker positions,” said Tumbahamphe. 

According to sources, the ruling Nepal Communist Party (NCP) has already asked deputy speaker to resign from the post before commencement of the House session. But Tumbahamphe reportedly replied that she will decide about resigning within a few days.

With the constitution clearly stating that the speaker and deputy speaker must be from two different parties, NCP plans to keep the position of speaker for itself and cede the deputy speakership to other political parties.

A senior leader of the NCP said the seniormost member of the House of Representatives is likely to chair the first meeting of the parliament on December 20, where he/she will read out the resignation of speaker and deputy speaker to the lawmakers.

A meeting of the Business Advisory Committee (BAC) of the parliament is likely to decide about the election schedule of the new speaker and deputy speaker prior to the House meeting on December 20. But a senior official at the parliament secretariat said the election process is likely to begin on December 22. 

Meanwhile, the ruling NCP still remains undecided about the candidate of the speaker as leaders from both the former UML and Maoist factions in the party claiming the post.

 
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