DP Aryal elected unopposed as house speaker, formal announcement set for sunday

Kathmandu: MP DP Aryal has been elected unopposed to the post of Speaker of the House of Representatives, with the formal announcement scheduled during the upcoming House meeting on Sunday.

The nomination registration period for the Speaker post was set from 11 am to 2 pm today. Aryal was the sole candidate during this period, resulting in his unopposed election.

According to House regulations, if there is only one candidate, the person presiding over the meeting must declare the election unopposed after supporting members present a proposal. This process will be completed in the House meeting on Sunday.

With a clear majority in the House, the ruling party Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) faced no competition from other parties. The RSS holds 182 of the 275 House seats, while Nepali Congress has 38, CPN-UML 25, CPN (Maoist) 17, Shram Sanskriti Party 7, and RPP 5 MPs.

Following the Speaker election, the process for electing the Deputy Speaker will commence. The election date and time will be set by the Speaker. Constitutionally, the Speaker and Deputy Speaker must come from different parties and be of different genders. However, in the case of a single candidacy, both can be from the same party, according to the Parliament Secretariat.

Formal discussions among parties regarding the Deputy Speaker selection have not yet begun. After election, the Speaker will take the oath of office and secrecy before the President, while the Deputy Speaker will take the oath in the presence of the Speaker.

As members of the Constitutional Council, the party affiliation of the Deputy Speaker is regarded as politically significant.