Koshi Provincial Assembly Speaker Ambar Bahadur Bista
ITAHARI: Ambar Bahadur Bista of Rastriya Prajatantra Party (RPP), which calls itself an anti-federalist force, was unanimously elected as the Speaker of the Koshi Province Assembly on Tuesday.
Despite being a vocal critic of the federal system, RPP contested the province assembly election held in November last year and secured victories in six seats of the Koshi Province Assembly. Bhakti Prasad Sitaula, RPP’s parliamentary leader in the Koshi Province Assembly, joined the first provincial government led by UML’s Hikmat Bahadur Karki formed after the 2022 election. However, Karki’s government did not last for long.
The ruling coalition had earlier decided to offer the vacant post of Speaker, which had been lying vacant since the resignation of Baburam Gautam on August 1 last year, to RPP. Bista was selected by RPP for the position a few days ago.
Bista, who called for the scrapping of the provincial structure while addressing the provincial assembly meeting last year, now chairs the assembly responsible for drafting laws for the province.
“Both supporters and opponents of federalism are vying for state power,” said political analyst Dr. Rajendra Sharma. “RPP isn’t the only one. Even leaders like Chitra Bahadur KC of Rastriya Janamorcha Nepal and Rabi Lamichhane of Rastriya Swatantra Party, who openly criticize the federal system, have tasted state power.”
Sharma pointed out that RPP seemingly adopted an anti-federalist stance merely to capitalize on public sentiment. He noted that RPP is promoting the ‘Hindu state’ agenda to exploit people’s sentiments. “The interim constitution declares secularism as the common agenda for all parties. RPP did not protest the provision when the interim constitution was issued. Now, reinstatement of ‘Hindu state’ is its main agenda,” he added. “Since parties have failed to meet people’s expectations even after adopting the federal setup, RPP is embracing the anti-federalism agenda to capitalize on people’s frustration toward federalism.”
Bista was elected to the Koshi Province Assembly under the proportional representation system.
Leaders are optimistic that the Koshi cabinet will now take complete shape since the province assembly has now got the Speaker. Bista’s election to the position of Speaker also ensures that there is no immediate threat to the coalition government led by Kedar Karki of the Nepali Congress.
