The first meeting of federal parliament has started Monday afternoon. The House of Representatives (HoR) and the National Assembly will convene for the first time after the country entered the federal system of governance.
A joint meeting of the HoR and the National Assembly will be held at four in the afternoon.
Federal lawmakers were sworn in on Sunday almost three months after the HoR election was completed on December 7. Mahantha Thakur of Rastriya Janata Party Nepal (RJP) Chairman Council administered oath of office and secrecy to HoR members first before Tara Devi Bhatta administered that to National Assembly members around half an hour later as senior most member of the respective Houses.
Thakur and Bhatta will chair the meeting of HoR and National Assembly respectively until speaker and chairman of the respective Houses are elected.
The letter of president announcing the first session of the federal parliament will be read in the beginning.
The first meeting of HoR and National Assembly will be held separately despite the constitution requiring the president to address the first meeting of the federal parliament, and a joint meeting of the two Houses during the address.
The first meeting will observe a minute of silence in respect of known and unknown martyrs, and the lawmakers will be briefed about appointment of prime minister (PM) and expansion of the Cabinet.
Top leaders of the parties are also scheduled to address the first joint meeting of the parliament. Interim working procedure will also be presented and passed in both the Houses.
Six different elections will be held in the nine days from March 10 to March 18 in the federal parliament.
The election to be held on March 10 will choose the speaker while Prime Minister KP Sharma Oli will seek the vote of confidence on March 11.
The Election Commission (EC) had earlier finalized the date of presidential election for March 13. The National Assembly and HoR members will exercise their franchise to elect the new president.
Election will be held on March 14 to elect chairman of the National Assembly.
Similarly, the election for deputy speaker of HoR will be held on March 16. The election for vice-chairman of National Assembly will be held on March 18.
