19 Chait, Kathmandu. After the election of members of the House of Representatives held on February 21, the first session of the Parliament is starting today.

A meeting of the House of Representatives has been called for 2 o’clock today in the multi-purpose room of the Federal Parliament building under construction at Singha Durbar.

President Ramchandra Paudel called a session of both houses of the Federal Parliament for today on the recommendation of the Council of Ministers according to the Constitution of Nepal on March 16th.

At the beginning of the meeting, senior member Arjun Narasimha KC will read out the letter regarding the convening of the session and give information about the formation of the Council of Ministers.

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

There is a constitutional provision that the President calls a session of the Federal Parliament within 30 days from the date of the announcement of the final result of the House of Representatives election. The Election Commission submitted the ‘Report with the results of the House of Representatives Election 2082’ to the President on March 5th. The newly elected MPs took oath on 12th Chait.

The 275-member House of Representatives has 182 MPs from the National Independent Party, 38 from the Nepali Congress, 25 from the CPN-UML, 17 from the Nepali Communist Party, seven from the Labor Culture Party, five from the National Democratic Party (RPP) and one independent MP.

Top leaders will address

In the meeting, on the occasion of the beginning of the session, the agenda has been decided for the members to present their opinions on the basis of party.

According to the Secretary General of the Federal Parliament Secretariat, Padma Prasad Pandey, RSVP Chairman Ravi Lamichhane, UML Parliamentary Party Leader Ram Bahadur Thapa Badal, Nepali Communist Party Parliamentary Party Leader Pushpa Kamal Dahal Prachanda, Shram Sanskrit Party’s Harak Sampang and Gyan Bahadur Shahi from RPP are scheduled to speak today.

The name of the leader who will address on behalf of the Congress has not been decided.

Three ordinances will be tabled in the House of Representatives

Three ordinances are being submitted in today’s meeting. In the meeting, Home Minister Sudhan Gurung has decided the possible agenda to submit ‘Voter List (First Amendment) Ordinance 2082’, ‘Election of Members of the House of Representatives (First Amendment) Ordinance, 2082’ and ‘Nepal Special Service (Second Amendment) Ordinance 2082’.

In the meeting, senior member KC presented for approval the proposal to act in accordance with the House of Representatives Rules, 2079 until the House of Representatives makes its rules according to Article 104 of the Constitution of Nepal, Padma Prasad Pandey, Secretary General of the Federal Parliament Secretariat, informed.

There is also a possible agenda to nominate the members who will preside over the meeting in the absence of the Speaker today.

Speaker election schedule to be published

Speaker election schedule will be announced from today’s meeting. The all-party meeting held on Wednesday agreed on the schedule for the election of the Speaker on 22nd Chait.

According to the same agreement, KC, the senior member of the House of Representatives, will set the day for the election of the Speaker of the House of Representatives according to Rule 7 of the Rules of the House of Representatives, 2079.

At the end of the meeting, the speaker will present the condolence proposal of members and former members of the Constituent Assembly, Rishikesh Gautam, Mohammad Aftaw Alam, Amod Prasad Upadhyay, Homanath Dahal and Baldev Bohora, a member of the Constituent Assembly and the National Assembly.