First session of Federal Parliament concludes; NA passes interim rules of procedure

Kathmandu / Mar 5: The first session of the House of Representatives and the National Assembly, which form the Federal Parliament of Nepal, has concluded .

The inaugural session called by President Bidya Devi Bhandari earlier on February 20, was held at the Federal Parliament Building (International Convention Centre) at New Baneshwor, today.

As the elder-most member of the Parliament, Rastriya Janata Party Presidium Coordinator Mahanta Thakur presided over the House of Representavies’ session, whereas Taradevi Bhatta presided over the National Assembly session. The Speakers of both the houses are yet to be elected.

On the occasion, Thakur read out the opening session letter sent by the President.

The meeting passed House of Representatives’ Final Work-Plan 2074 and National Assembly Work Plan 2074, unanimously.

NA passes interim rules of procedure

Similarly, the maiden meeting of the NA held at the Federal Parliament building in New Baneshwor, Kathmandu on Monday has unanimously endorsed the interim rules of procedures for the upper house.

The meeting was chaired by the eldest member of the house Taradevi Bhatta. Likewise, Parsuram Meghi Gurung, Radheshyam Adhikari and Kali Bahadur Malla were nominated to act on behalf of the National Assembly Chair in her/his absence.

At the meeting which began at 4:23 in the afternoon, Chairperson Bhatta welcomed the members and read the letter from the President summoning the maiden meeting of the Federal Parliament.

Chair Bhatta also read out letter from the Office of the President which informed about the expansion of the cabinet held on various dates.

The meeting then endorsed a proposal tabled by the Chair to approve the interim rules of procedures as per Article 86 of the Constitution.

Although the NA is made up of 59 members, three members appointed on the recommendation of the Government did not attend the meeting as they have not taken the oath of office and secrecy, due to a stay order from the Supreme Court.

There are 27 members representing the CPN-UML, 13 from the Nepali Congress (NC), 12 from CPN-Maoist Centre and two each from Rastriya Janata Party and Federal Socialist Forum. Of the total members, 21 are women and 35 men with a six-year term.

The term of one-third of the members’ will however expire in every two years. The National Assembly will meet again on 11:00 am on Tuesday. RSS