The newly-elected Speaker of the House of Representatives Dev Raj Ghimire has taken the oath of office and secrecy.

Ghimire was sworn-in by President Bidhya Devi Bhandari amid a ceremony held in the President’s Office on Friday.

Vice President Nanda Bahadur Pun, Prime Minister Pushpa Kamal Dahal, acting Chief Justice Hari Krishna Karki, National Assembly Chairman Ganesh Prasad Timilsena and other high ranking officials were present during the ceremony.

CPN-UML’s Ghimire was elected as the House Speaker, defeating Ishwari Neupane of the Nepali Congress, after achieving a majority in the parliament on Thursday.

Out of the 268 parliamentarians in attendance, 167 lawmakers voted in favour of Ghimire’s election. Neupane received 100 votes while one lawmaker from Nepal Majdoor Kisan Party abstained in the voting process.

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