The resignation and appointment of a new general secretary at the Parliament Secretariat has caused a tussle between the Office of the President and the federal parliament.

Bharat Raj Gautam, general secretary at the secretariat, submitted his resignation from the post to President Ramchandra Paudel on Sunday. The next day, Speaker of the House of Representatives Dev Raj Ghimire, in consultation with Ganesh Prasad Timilsina, chair of the National Assembly, recommended Padma Prasad Pandey as his replacement.

However, Paudel is reluctant to appoint Pandey as the administrative chief of the federal parliament. This has soured the relations between the two state agencies. Issuing a press note on Wednesday, Shekhar Adhikari, Ghimire’s press adviser, said the Speaker tried to consult the President on the delays in the appointment. "But contact could not be established," as per the press note.

Paudel and Ghimire had a telephone conversation hours after the press note was issued. Both sides explained their moves but the matter remains unresolved.

President Paudel approved Gautam's resignation on Wednesday but is unwilling to appoint Pandey as his successor. Baburam Kunwar, the legal adviser to the President, said since the recommendation did not follow the due legal process, he doesn't think Pandey's recommendation will be endorsed.

"Pandey was recommended as the general secretary before the President accepted Gautam's resignation. The position is not vacant until the resignation is accepted," Kunwar told the Post. He refuted the claim by the Speaker's secretariat that the position becomes vacant after the incumbent resigns as there is no legal obligation to approve it. "It seems they [those close to the Speaker] don't understand the legal philosophy. Not everything is written," said Kunwar, referring to the approval of the resignation.

An aide to Ghimire said Gautam had submitted a copy of his resignation to the Parliament Secretariat, which is enough to understand that the position is vacant. The President bears the constitutional authority to appoint secretaries and general secretaries in the federal parliament.

The constitution says the general secretary of the federal parliament is recommended to the President in consultation with both the Speaker and the chairperson of the National Assembly.

Amid delays in the appointment by the President, the Speaker appointed Pandey as the officiating general secretary on Wednesday.

Gautam, close to the CPN-UML, was appointed the general secretary in May 2020 and still had 10 months for retirement. Timilsina retires on March 3, 2024. As the ruling alliance holds a majority in the Assembly and is fielding common candidates in the upcoming elections, it is almost certain that the UML will not win the next chair.

Ruling party leaders call the sudden resignation of Gautam and the recommendation of Pandey for the post a well-orchestrated strategy to appoint a UML confidant as the general secretary before Timilsina retires. Ghimire and Timilsina both come from the UML.

Pandey, a former deputy attorney general, was appointed the secretary of the federal parliament in May in the UML’s quota.

Kunwar said the President will appoint him the general secretary if the recommendation is deemed to have followed the due process. However, it is not sure if the Speaker withdraws the recommendation and resends it.

Daman Nath Dhungana, a former Speaker, said the public spillover of differences between the two state agencies for appointing a general secretary is unfortunate.

"This happens when the people in power don’t value democratic norms and decorum," he told the Post. "Those in power are more into heightening conflict rather than finding an amicable solution to the problem."

He, however, said since the general secretary's position is crucial, the candidate must have a high stature.

"Of late, I don’t see this aspect taken into consideration while nominating the candidate," he said.

Similar differences between the President's Office and Parliament came to light in 2016 as well.

In August 2016, then-Speaker Onasari Gharti Magar had written to then-President Bidya Devi Bhandari to appoint Gopal Nath Yogi, an advocate close to the CPN (Maoist Centre), as the House secretary. But Bhandari halted the appointment.

He was appointed in April 2018 only after being recommended again for the position, together with Rajendra Phuyal, a UML supporter, for the National Assembly.