INSUBCONTINENT EXCLUSIVE:
KATHMANDU, JANUARY 14Prime Minister Pushpa Kamal Dahal said there was no written agreement in the ruling coalition on
which party would get which of the three posts - president, speaker, and deputy speaker.
Election for HoR Speaker on
Maoist Chair Pushpa Kamal Dahal sworn-in as the new Prime
Minister
Interacting with editors here today,
Dahal said he would discuss the election of speaker and deputy Speaker on January 19 at an all-party meeting, which would be attended by
representatives of the parties that voted in his favour on the day the PM had sought vote of confidence.
The process of
electing the president and vice-president will start later as the incumbent president's term ends on March 13.Yesterday, NC leader Shekhar
Koirala had said the NC voted in favour of Dahal during vote of confidence keeping in mind the two key posts - president and
vice-president."I am not talking about the election of speaker and deputy speaker but the election that will be held later to elect the
president and vice-president," Koirala said, adding that the electoral college for electing the president consisted of members of the
Parliament and Province Assemblies.In response to a query, PM Dahal said the Nepali Embassy was preparing for his visit to India
Immediately after winning the parliamentary elections, Dahal had said that he was likely to make his first foreign visit to India.The PM is
expected to visit India after giving full shape to the Cabinet.Addressing a programme here today, Dahal said an extraordinary incident had
happened when almost the entire HoR voted in his favour during the vote of confidence
"I feel like the prime minister of a consensus government, and while this is a matter to be proud of, I also feel more responsible now," he
added.The PM said that he would give the Cabinet full shape by tomorrow and there was no disagreement among the seven partners of the ruling
alliance over Cabinet portfolios.The PM has not assigned portfolios to four ministers as the issue of which partner will get which Cabinet
portfolio is still to be resolved.A version of this article appears in the print on January 14, 2023, of The Himalayan Times.
This article first appeared/also appeared in https://thehimalayantimes.com