CPN (Maoist Centre) candidate Narayan Dahal on Tuesday registered a comfortable victory as the National Assembly chairperson, defeating his opponent with more than double votes.

Dahal, a common candidate from the ruling alliance, got 39 votes while Yuvaraj Sharma of the Nepali Congress was limited to 17 votes. As many as 56 lawmakers of the 59-strong upper house took part in the election process. The position had been vacant after Ganesh Prasad Timilsina retired on March 3 after completing his six-year tenure.

Dahal’s candidacy was supported by the CPN-UML, the CPN (Unified Socialist) and Janata Samajbadi Party and Bamdev Gautam, who was nominated by the President. Sharma, on the other hand, was supported by the Loktantrik Samajbadi Party, which has one seat in the House. Rastriya Janamorcha, which has one seat, abstained from the voting process.

Dahal’s victory was certain as the ruling parties had reached an agreement to support the Maoist Centre’s candidate for the position. The party led by Prime Minister Pushpa Kamal Dahal is the largest in the upper chamber of the federal parliament.

Speaking to journalists after being elected, Dahal said he would work to enhance the dignity of the upper house. “I will lead the chamber taking cross-party lawmakers together. I am confident that I will succeed,” he said.

Dahal was nominated to the National Assembly in 2022 by then-President Bidya Devi Bhandari on the recommendation of the Sher Bahadur Deuba government.

The newly elected chair and the prime minister became party “whole-timers” around the same time in the 1970s. They are cousins. Dahal, who started politics in the 1980s, became a Maoist central committee member in 1997. He first entered Parliament in the reinstated House of Representatives after the 2006 People’s Movement. In the 2008 first Constituent Assembly, he was elected from Chitwan-3 but was defeated in the second assembly elections.

Despite some reservations from some party leaders, the Maoist Centre office-bearers’ meeting on Sunday picked him as their chairperson candidate. The decision met with widespread controversy. Constitutional experts say when the leadership is not widely accepted, the Assembly cannot function effectively.

“The Assembly cannot hold the executive to account if the chairperson is weak,” advocate Raju Prasad Chapagain, who also is a former chairperson of the Constitutional Lawyers’ Forum, told the Post. “There is always fear that the legislature would act as subordinate to the executive.”

Before the National Assembly elections, the Maoist Centre had agreed to leave the chairperson to the Congress. Former Congress General Secretary Krishna Prasad Sitaula contested and won the polls held on January 25 with the hope of getting the position. However, the prime minister’s party backtracked on its pledge, arguing his party will not have representation in the Constitutional Council once Deuba gets the government’s leadership.

Led by the prime minister, the council holds the authority to pick the candidates in the constitutional bodies including the chief justice. Timilsina, who is close to then Prime Minister KP Sharma Oli, was accused of abiding by what Oli said while picking names for the constitutional commissions "unconstitutionally."

Experts say the newly elected chair might do the same for Prime Minister Dahal.

"Let’s give him a benefit of doubt but I am least hopeful that Dahal will lead the House effectively," Khimlal Devkota, a former National Assembly member, told the Post.

When the Nepal Communist Party split in August 2021, Timilsina and Agni Sapkota, the then Speaker, clearly showed their party lineage. As a result, there was no coordination between the two chambers of the Parliament. They couldn’t let go of their political biases. Experts say given the status of the incumbent Speaker and chairperson, history could repeat if the present coalition splits.

On March 4, while agreeing to allot chairperson to the Maoist Centre, the ruling parties agreed to support CPN-UML for the vice-chairperson. However, an agreement reached on Tuesday doesn't mention which party would get the position.

Speaking to the media, Prakash Jwala, the Unified Socialist deputy general secretary, has said his party will get the position.

The incumbent vice-chairperson of National Assembly, Urmila Aryal, who is a Maoist Centre lawmaker, will have to resign to clear the position for other ruling parties.