The process to elect the Speaker for the Province Assembly in the Sudurpashim Province has been put off until a further notice. The PA Secretariat announced the postponement of the process by issuing a notice this afternoon. In the voting for the Speaker held in the Thursday’s meeting, no candidates secured majority to win the election.
The all-party meeting was again called for 11:00 am today, but no consensus was forged for the re-election, leading to the adjournment of the process.

The Nagarik Unmukti Party which has emerged as a decisive force in the Sudurpashim PA has said that it would not participate in the re- election of Speaker until it is assured in writing to allocate three ministers to the party.

Man Bahadur Rawal of Nepali Congress and Bhim Bahadur Bhandari of CPN (Maoist Centre) are the candidates for the Speaker. In the Thursday’s voting, Rawal got 23 votes in his favour and 27 in against while Bhandari’s votes tally was 26 in favour of him and 23 in against. In the 53-member PA, a total of 50 members took part in the voting, and one vote was assessed to be invalid.

One has to secure 27 votes to secure majority for winning the election. The elections of the Speaker and Deputy-Speaker shall constitutionally take place within the 15 days of the first meeting of the PA and the deadline is ending soon.