Lawmaker of the CPN (Maoist Centre) Urmila Aryal has been unanimously elected the Vice Chairperson of the National Assembly (NA). The upper house chairperson Ganesh Prasad Timilsina informed today’s NA session about her unanimous election to the coveted post. He also congratulated her.
Prior to this, the CPN UML lawmaker Debendra Dahal, who seconded the proposal to elect Aryal to the post, praised her, saying the country would get a personality, who rose from the communist movement into the NA. He said of Aryal that she was a qualified candidate for the position of the NA’s Vice Chairperson. “Having joined the communist movement for long, Aryal is an established and successful woman, and has taken societal responsibilities,” he explained.
Similarly, lawmaker Khim Lal Devkota praised her as having played an important role in women’s movements. He stressed the need for electing women in the leading positions in other state organs. Born on 5 October, 1956 at then Jagarnathpur Rural Municipality-5 (current Birgunj Metropolitan City-23) in Parsa district, she, also the Maoist Centre Standing Committee member, served as the local development minister.
She was elected the NA member from the Madhes Province through the election held last year. Having taken care of the All Nepal Women’s Association as its central chairperson, she worked as a woman development officer. She has acquired a Master’s degree in sociology, and is a PhD scholar. Aryal has taken a tour of China, India, Pakistan, Bangladesh, Afghanistan, Kyrgyzstan, Philippines, Thailand, Indonesia, the United States of America, France, Spain and Switzerland.
The position was vacant when the tenure of then NA Vice Chair Shashi Kala Dahal expired one year ago.
National consensus continuation: DPM Shrestha
Early, proposing her candidacy for the position of the NA vice chairperson in the NA session, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister for Physical Infrastructure and Transport Narayan Kaji Shrestha viewed that other candidates not filing for the position was a sign of the continuation of a national consensus.
“The government got a vote of confidence which has spread the message of a national consensus. So, the election of the NA vice chairperson saw the continuation of a national consensus. This has given a good and positive message,” he observed.
In another context, the minister said main responsibility of the government is to boost the country’s economy following a change in politics. “There is a need for all political parties to strike a national consensus to speed up the campaign for prosperity alongside social justice while safeguarding national sovereignty. All should acknowledge this,” he said.
