National Independent Party Nears Majority After Direct Election Results, Focus Shifts to Speaker and Deputy Speaker Selection

Kathmandu. The counting of votes for the direct election in the House of Representatives held on Falgun 21 has been completed. According to the final count, out of 165 seats in the direct election, the Rastriya Swatantra Party (RSP) has secured 125, Nepali Congress 18, CPN-UML 9, CPN 8, Shram Sanskriti Party 3, Rastriya Prajatantra Party (RPP) 1, and an independent candidate (Mahabir Pun) have been elected.

The Election Commission has stated that the voting for the proportional representation (PR) system is also in its final stages. Out of the 10,977,711 votes cast under PR, the RSP has crossed 5 million votes. This result confirms that the RSP will easily secure a majority. The current trend suggests that they will fall just a few seats short of a two-thirds majority.

With the direct election counting concluded and the PR counting in its final phase, the general public is now keenly interested in how the Speaker and Deputy Speaker of the House of Representatives will be elected and which parties they will belong to.

Due to existing constitutional and legal provisions, even though the RSP is close to a two-thirds majority, it appears unlikely that they will be able to nominate a Speaker and Deputy Speaker from their own party. However, there is one scenario where the RSP could nominate both the Speaker and Deputy Speaker from their own party, but the possibility of that scenario materializing is extremely low.

Article 91 of the Constitution, promulgated on Aswin 3, 2072 BS through the Constituent Assembly, outlines the provisions for the election of the Speaker and Deputy Speaker of the House of Representatives.

According to that article and its sub-clauses, the Speaker and Deputy Speaker must be of different genders and represent different political parties. The election for the Speaker and Deputy Speaker must be completed within 15 days from the commencement of the first meeting of the House of Representatives.

Sub-clause (1) of Article 91 states: 'Within fifteen days from the date of commencement of the first meeting of the House of Representatives, the members of the House of Representatives shall elect the Speaker and Deputy Speaker from among themselves.'

Until the election of the Speaker and Deputy Speaker takes place, the eldest member among the representatives will preside over the meeting, as stipulated in Sub-clause (5) of Article 91. This sub-clause states: 'In the event that the Speaker and Deputy Speaker of the House of Representatives have not been elected or both positions are vacant, the eldest member present among the members of the House of Representatives shall preside over the meeting of the House of Representatives.'

The provision requiring the Speaker and Deputy Speaker to be from different parties and genders is stipulated in Sub-clause (2) of the same article. Sub-clause (2) states: 'In conducting the election as per Sub-clause (1), arrangements shall be made such that one of the Speaker or Deputy Speaker of the House of Representatives is a woman, and the Speaker and Deputy Speaker of the House of Representatives must be representatives of different parties.'

The Constitution also includes a provision regarding situations where the Speaker and Deputy Speaker might not need to be from different parties. Proviso in Sub-clause (2) of Article 91 states: 'There shall be no hindrance to a member of the same party being elected as the Speaker and Deputy Speaker of the House of Representatives if there is no representation of more than one party in the House of Representatives or if there is representation but no candidacy is filed.'

As of now, with the counting of direct election results completed, representation from 6 parties is certain in the House of Representatives. In the direct elections, the RSP, Congress, UML, CPN, Shram Sanskriti Party, and RPP have won seats.

Constitutional expert Senior Advocate Radheshyam Adhikari states that the RSP will not get the Deputy Speaker position if a member from another party declares their candidacy. 'If a member from another party declares candidacy, the RSP will not get the Deputy Speaker position. The constitutional provision says so,' Senior Advocate Adhikari told Ratopati. 'After the 2079 House of Representatives election, the CPN-UML, due to this very provision, did not give the position to the Congress and instead supported the then RSP member Indira Rana Magar, who was favorable to them, to become the Deputy Speaker. Similarly, the RSP can make a favorable member from another party the Deputy Speaker now, but they cannot make one from their own party.'

All parties that won seats in the direct elections have also crossed the threshold required to become a national party, ensuring they will receive seats from the proportional representation quota. The law concerning the election of House of Representatives members stipulates that a party that wins at least one seat in the direct election and secures 3 percent of the total valid votes cast in the general election under the PR system can become a national party.

Since the Deputy Speaker is also a member of the Constitutional Council, which appoints officials to constitutional bodies, it is almost certain that the 5 parties other than the RSP will stake a claim and field candidates.