Ishwari Neupane elected State Affairs Committee chair unopposed

KATHMANDU: Ishwari Neupane of Nepali Congress (NC) has been elected as the Chairperson of the State Affairs and Good Governance Committee of the House of Representatives unopposed.

Neupane was declared elected unopposed as the opposition parties failed to register a candidate for the position by 4 pm on Tuesday.

Earlier, Nepali Congress (NC) and CPN-UML had filed Neupane’s candidacy for the position. Outgoing Chairperson Ram Hari Khatiwada was the proposer of her candidacy, while Krishna Gopal Shrestha of UML seconded the proposal.

Neupane earlier tendered resignation as the Chairperson of the Parliamentary Hearing Special Committee.

Maoist Center Chief Whip Hitraj Pandey said opposition parties did not hold any talks regarding filing candidacy since the position was held by the NC in the past as well. “The opposition does not even have the required numbers,” Pandey said.

Former chair Khatiwada had become embroiled in controversy over alleged tampering of the “cooling-off period” provision in the Civil Service Bill.

Speaker Dev Raj Ghimire has scheduled the election for Wednesday.