Senior member of the Parliament Pashupati Shumsher JB Rana said that one lawmaker remained neutral in the voting.
UML’s Subash Nembang proposed Ghimire’s candidacy while Rastriya Prajatantra Party Chairman Rajendra Lingden, Rastriya Swatantra Party Chairman Rabi Lamichhane and CPN (Maoist Center)’s Chief Whip Hitraj Pandey seconded the proposal. Ghimire was elected as a member of the House of Representatives from Jhapa-2. He defeated independent candidate Swagat Nepal by a margin of 2, 297 votes. Born in Taplejung in 2013 BS, Ghimire began his political career as a student leader and was a National Assembly member from 1999 to 2003 BS. The 66-year-old leader is now the UML standing committee member and the party in-charge for Province 1. The Constitution requires the lower house to elect the Speaker within 15 days of the commencement of the first meeting and either Speaker or Deputy Speaker shall be a woman and belong to different parties. Meanwhile, the election for the Deputy Speaker has been scheduled for January 21.
