Most waited parliament begins

The first session of the reinstated House of Representatives (HoR) has begun at the Parliament Building, Singha Durbar, Friday afternoon.

The meet, which was earlier scheduled to commence at 1:00 in the afternoon started more than three and a half hours later. The first parliamentary session was presided by deputy speaker of the HoR, Chitra Lekha Yadav.Deputy Speaker of the reinstated Parliament, Chitra Lekha Yadav, chaired the parliament meet as speaker Taranath Ranabhat resigned from his post on Wednesday. Nepali Congress (NC) President Girija Prasad Koirala, who has been appointed the Prime Minister of the government to be formed next, was not present in the first meeting of the reinstated HoR due to ill-health. 84-yr-old Koirala has been sick for the past couple of days. Deputy Speaker Yadav read out a written message from Koirala that proposed the parliament to hold an election to constituent assembly.

His Majesty King reinstated the parliament, which was dissolved in May 2002, on Monday as per the roadmap of the seven-party alliance.

The Singha Durbar premises wore a new look after four years. Lawmakers seemed delighted to enter the parliament after four years.

Out of the total 205 members, only 202 MPs attended today’s meet. While the NC has expelled two of its MPs, Prakash Koirala and Narayan Singh Pun for supporting the royal government, UML parliamentarian Hem Narayan Yadav was killed a few years back.

Positions in 1999 General Elections

Parties seat secured
Nepali Congress 113
CPN-UML 68
Rastriya Prajatantra Party 12
Sadbhawana Party 5
Majdoor Kisan Party 1
Samyukta janamorcha 1
Rastriya Janamorcha 5
Total seats 205