Bagmati Province Faces Deadlock Over Speaker Election

Hetauda. As the constitutional and legal deadline for electing the Speaker of the Bagmati Province Assembly approaches, the ruling parties have yet to reach a consensus.

The countdown for the new Speaker election began following the formal submission of the resignation of former Speaker Bhuwan Kumar Pathak during the provincial assembly meeting held on Chaitra 24.

According to constitutional provisions, there is a mandatory requirement to initiate the election process for the Speaker by Baisakh 9. While the agenda for the election must be brought forward by this date, ten days have passed since Pathak's resignation was submitted, yet the major ruling partners, CPN-UML and the Nepali Congress, have not held formal discussions. The two parties have yet to find a balance of power regarding which party will hold the Speaker's position.

Former Speaker Pathak had announced his resignation during the JNG movement on Bhadra 23 and 24. He submitted his resignation letter via email on Ashoj 1. The Parliament Secretariat issued a public notice regarding this resignation on Mangsir 4.

Prior to that, the government had decided to end the session on Mangsir 3 when the parliament was not in operation. At that time, Deputy Speaker Apsara Chapagain issued a public notice regarding the Speaker's resignation, and she has been serving as the Acting Speaker of the Provincial Assembly since.

The Bagmati Province Assembly, which had been closed for the past 9 months, resumed operations only on Chaitra 24. The issue of the Speaker's resignation was formally introduced in that meeting. Although it was expected that political resolution would follow the resumption of parliament, internal friction within the ruling parties has left the election process in limbo. There is no concrete agreement yet between the UML and Congress on which party will secure the Speaker's post or who the candidate will be.

Speaker selection will be resolved through consensus, no need to rush - Thapaliya

CPN-UML Bagmati Province Parliamentary Party leader Jagannath Thapaliya stated that the selection of the provincial Speaker and the power-sharing arrangement among ruling parties would be resolved based on mutual understanding. He noted that there is no 'hard and fast' legal deadline for the election and, since the Deputy Speaker is conducting the house, there is no reason to panic.

Leader Thapaliya mentioned that discussions are ongoing among ruling parties regarding the election process and various power-sharing options. He emphasized that the implementation of the gentleman's agreement between Congress and UML must also be discussed. He added that the issue of rotating government leadership is also under discussion to be moved forward jointly.

'Although there is a provision that the election process for the Speaker should be held within 15 days of its announcement, we have time because the process has not started yet. Currently, we have a Deputy Speaker, and work has not stopped. Therefore, we will move forward by focusing on the balance of power and party consensus rather than rushing,' he said. 'There must be a discussion between the two parties regarding the leadership of the government. According to the set agreement, our turn should have come last Chaitra. We are not aggressive about taking the leadership of the government, but our stance is that the existing agreement must be implemented; this is being discussed in the bilateral mechanism.'

Leader Thapaliya argued that for checks and balances between the executive and the legislature, it is appropriate for the Chief Minister and the Speaker to be from different parties. He stated that if the Chief Minister remains from the Congress, the UML should take the Speaker's position. Thapaliya claimed that this matter would be resolved maturely within a few days or a month.

According to him, rather than being stubborn about any position, one must move forward with mature decisions. He mentioned that internal discussions are also ongoing among the parties regarding cabinet reshuffling, but no decision has been made yet.

Speaker issue will be resolved in this session - Minister Tamang

Bagmati Province Government Spokesperson and Minister for Economic Affairs and Planning, Prabhat Tamang, stated that the election process for the vacant Speaker position will begin and conclude within this current session. Amidst the tug-of-war between ruling parties over who gets the Speaker's post, he said the election process will start during the ongoing session as per constitutional provisions.

Minister Tamang mentioned that Chief Minister Indra Bahadur Baniya and the CPN-UML parliamentary party leader are in dialogue. He stated that the Nepali Congress parliamentary party has unanimously decided that the Congress should hold the Speaker's position, and pressure is mounting for a result accordingly. According to him, a conclusion will be reached through discussions between party leaders.

'Meetings are taking place between the Chief Minister and the UML party leader. In the case of Congress, it has been decided that the party leader will finalize the matter. They are in discussions. A concrete conclusion has not been reached yet,' he said. 'Rather than speculating about the Speaker's election, it is a matter that will become clear through dialogue. Time is very short. We have to start the process in about 5 days. The process will begin in this session and the Speaker issue will be resolved.'