CPN-UML lawmaker Dev Raj Ghimire has been elected Speaker of the House of Representatives, defeating Ishwari Neupane of the Nepali Congress.

Ghimire received 167 votes in the House where 268 lawmakers were present for voting. One needs to secure the support of 138 members in the 275-strong lower house to be elected. As many as 100 lawmakers stood against Ghimire, while one lawmaker from Nepal Majdoor Kisan Party stood neutral.

Along with the CPN-UML, Communist Party of Nepal (Maoist Centre), Rastriya Swatantra Party, Janata Samajbadi Party, Rastriya Prajatantra Party and Janamat Party and three independent lawmakers voted in favour of the proposal to elect Ghimire. The Congress, Loktantrik Samajbadi Party and Rasriya Janamorcha voted against Ghimire.

“As the proposal to elect lawmaker Dev Raj Ghimire has received 167 votes, which is the majority of the House, he has been elected Speaker,” announced Pashupati Shumshere Rana, who as the oldest member of the House chaired the meetings until the Speaker was elected.

Ghimire, who won the November 20 elections from Jhapa-2, is Standing Committee member and Province-1 in-charge of the ruling CPN-UML. He was elected as a National Assembly member in 1999.

His candidacy was proposed by UML lawmaker Subas Nembang and seconded by CPN (Maoist Centre) lawmaker Hitraj Pandey, Rastriya Swantantra Party President Rabi Lamichhane and Rastriya Prajatantra Party Chairperson Rajendra Lingden.

Though the Congress, the largest party in the House, had attempted to break the ruling alliance, all seven parties that supported the formation of the Pushpa Kamal Dahal government remained intact in the Speaker election. In addition to the Congress, CPN (Unified Socialist) and Rastriya Janamorcha voted against Ghimire.

In his first reaction to the media after the election, Ghimire promised to lead the House impartially and that he would prove it through his actions. “The House proceedings will move ahead in close coordination with the parties,” Ghimire told reporters.

Ghimire will assume the responsibility after taking the oath of office and secrecy. Ek Raj Giri, spokesperson for the Parliament Secretariat, said they have already requested the President’s Office to make arrangements for the oath ceremony. “We expect the oath to be administered on Friday as the newly-elected Speaker will have to chair the House on Saturday,” Giri told the Post.

The constitution makes it mandatory to elect a Speaker and a deputy Speaker within 15 days of the House’s first meeting. Now the election for the deputy Speaker will be held on Saturday. The nominations for the post will be received on Friday, while the voting process would begin at 1 pm the following day.

As per Article 91 (2) of the statute, either the Speaker or the deputy Speaker must be a woman and from different parties. The Rastriya Swatantra Party has got the deputy Speaker’s portfolio in the power-sharing deal. The party is most likely to field Sobita Gautam for the post.

Experts on parliamentary affairs say Ghimire should now forget that he is a UML leader and win the trust of all the parties represented in the legislature. “The dignity of the House relies on how well the Speaker handles its proceedings,” Som Bahadur Thapa, former secretary at the Parliament Secretariat, told the Post. “He mustn’t seem to be taking sides.”