The first meeting of both Houses of the federal parliament is scheduled to be held at 2 pm on Thursday, following the March 5 parliamentary elections.

President Ramchandra Paudel on Monday summoned the session on the recommendation of the Council of Ministers. Cross-party top leaders are addressing the first lower house meeting, while the senior-most member, Arjun Narsingh KC, will preside over the meeting until the Speaker is elected.

The chairperson of the Rastriya Swatantra Party (RSP), Rabi Lamichhane, will address the House of Representatives (HoR) representing the largest party. Party spokesperson Manish Jha said the decision has been made for the chairperson to deliver the address.

From the main opposition Nepali Congress, Bhishmaraj Angdembe will address the House.

From the third-largest party, CPN-UML parliamentary party leader Ram Bahadur Thapa will speak, while Barshaman Pun will address the House from the Nepali Communist Party.

Harka Sampang from the Shram Sanskriti Party and Gyan Bahadur Shahi from the Rastriya Prajatantra Party are also planning to address the first parliamentary meeting. Likewise, independent lawmaker Mahabir Pun will present his views.

Although Lamichhane was allocated 40 minutes to address the House, he was given 25 minutes after he said the given time was sufficient.

Angdembe has been given 10 minutes, while Thapa will speak for eight minutes.

Pun will speak for seven minutes. Similarly, Sampang, Shahi and Mahabir Pun will address the House for seven minutes each.

At the beginning of the first meeting of the HoR, the senior-most member, Arjun Narsingh KC, will read out the contents of the letter regarding the summoning of the session received from the President. Following that, the House will be informed about the appointment of Balendra Shah as prime minister by President Paudel. The House will also be informed about the ministers in the Cabinet led by Shah.

Following this, KC, in his role presiding over the House, is scheduled to present a proposal for approval to conduct parliamentary business in accordance with the House of Representatives Rules, 2079, until new rules are formulated.

A meeting of the six political parties represented in the HoR has set the agenda for party leaders to address the House on the commencement of the session.

An all-party meeting held on Wednesday also set the date for the election of the Speaker for coming Sunday.

In the 275-member House of Representatives, the Rastriya Swatantra Party holds 182 seats. NC has 38 seats, CPN-UML 25, Nepali Communist Party 17, the Shram Sanskriti Party seven, and the RPP five seats. Mahabir Pun is the lone independent lawmaker in the House.

The National Assembly has, for the first time, no representatives from a ruling party. The RSP, which formed the government after securing nearly a two-thirds majority in the HoR, has no representation in the National Assembly.

A meeting of the National Assembly’s Business Advisory Committee on Wednesday discussed how to manage seating arrangements in the absence of a ruling party.

It was agreed that ministers would sit in the row designated for the Deputy Chairperson, while seats for others would be arranged according to party strength.

In the upper house, NC has 24 members, NCP 17, CPN-UML 10, Janata Samajbadi Party Nepal three (including Mahantha Thakur), Janamorcha one, two members nominated by the President, and one NA chair. One seat to be nominated by the President remains vacant.