CPN-UML, CPN (Maoist Center), Rastriya Swatantra Party, Rastriya Prajatantra Party, Janata Samajbadi Party, Nagarik Unmukti Party and a few independent candidates voted for Ghimire.
“A beautiful exercise of democracy has been practiced and I have been elected through that exercise. I will discharge my duties as the Speaker in an impartial manner,” said Ghimire. “I will play a free, fair and impartial role. You will see it through my words and actions,” he added. Ghimire’s comments should be seen in light of controversies surrounding his predecessors. Krishna Bahadur Mahara, elected to the constitutional position in 2017, faced an attempt-to rape charge from a staffer of the Parliament Secretariat. Later, he stepped down. Mahara got a clean chit from the court in that case. Agni Sapkota courted controversy for his reluctance to table the MCC Bill in the parliament. His share of controversies did not end there. During his speakership, the Madhav Kumar-led faction parted ways with the UML. Subsequently, the UML wrote to the parliament, requesting the Speaker to read out that letter in the parliament. But Sapkota sat on the letter for 14 days, thereby making way for the emergence of the Nepal faction as a political party and the collapse of then KP Oli-led government. It was assumed that Sapkota was acting at the behest of Pushpa Kamal Dahal. “The Speaker should be impartial. The position is not supposed to represent a political party in the parliament. The speaker must table proposals and other bills on time. S/he should not act on behalf of leaders of his/her party and should not work in accordance with its mandate. The speaker should be neutral with regard to the bills and issues to be tabled in the parliament. The holder of this constitutional position should properly conduct meetings in the House. He should be able to win the confidence of the opposition in the House,” said Professor and political critic Lok Raj Baral. He suggested the Speaker will be appreciated if he does not work as per the party’s wishes. “I doubt that the speakers will be able to play a neutral role in the parliament as they happen to be one or the other party’s favorites,” said Baral. Former Speaker Subash Chandra Nembang said the Speaker should be neutral and should discuss issues before the House with all political parties. “The Speaker is like a referee in a football match. He should be able to command the respect of all parties by playing a free and fair role,” Nembang said. For this, the speaker should resign from his position in his party, he suggested. Keeping in view the controversies surrounding former speakers, Ghimire said he is aware of all this and has learned his lessons.
