Newly elected vice-chairperson of the National Assembly Urmila Aryal assumed her office on Tuesday.

After assuming her office, she signed a decision to hold an interaction programme regarding making the role of women parliamentarians effective.

Earlier today, Aryal took an oath of office and secrecy from upper house Chairman Ganesh Timilsina in presence of President Bidya Devi Bhandari.

She was elected vice-chairperson of the upper house unopposed on Monday as no one challenged her candidacy.

The Nepali Congress-led opposition alliance which had earlier fielded candidates for speaker and deputy speaker, however, didn’t challenge Aryal’s candidacy. The largest party in the House of Representatives that is trying to improve its relations with the ruling Maoist Centre has now adopted a strategy not to challenge Maoist candidates, both at provincial and federal levels.

Giving brief reactions to media persons immediately after her election to the post, Aryal pledged to make the upper house more effective during her tenure. She also promised to play a neutral role rising above partisan interests and facilitating among lawmakers across parties while working on various pertinent issues.

Aryal started her politics from the UML. She was elected as a member of the lower house in 1999 from Parsa-4 and became the minister for women, children and social welfare, in 2006. She quit the UML and joined the Maoist Centre before the 2013 Constituent Assembly elections.

She was elected to the upper house as a Maoist Centre candidate last year.