Oath taken by office bearers of Constitutional Council, Speaker boycotts Ceremony

KATHMANDU: Officials appointed on the recommendation of the Constitutional Council have taken oath of office and secrecy.

Chief Justice Cholendra Shamsher Jabara administered the oath of office to the heads of the constitutional organs in a special ceremony held at the President’s Office.

Similarly, other members have been sworn in by the head of the constitutional body. The swearing-in ceremony was attended by Prime Minister KP Sharma Oli, National Assembly Speaker Ganesh Timalsina, Deputy Prime Minister Ishwor Pokharel and Constituent Assembly Speaker Subash Nemwang.

Speaker Agni Sapkota, who disagreed with the appointment, boycotted the swearing-in ceremony. Sapkota had returned the original copy of the decision sent for parliamentary hearing. He did not attend the recommendation meeting.

The Constitutional Council meeting held on 15th December had recommended Prem Rai, former Secretary to the Chief Commissioner of the Commission for Investigation of Abuse of Authority, and Jaya Bahadur Chand and Kishor Silwal as Commissioners.

Similarly, it had recommended the appointment of 45 persons in various commissions including Tap Bahadur Magar as the Chairperson of the Human Rights Commission and Ram Prasad Bhandari and Jankari Tuladhar as the Commissioner of the Election Commission. 

The government had sent details to the Parliament Secretariat on 20th December for their parliamentary hearing. The House of Representatives was dissolved on the same day. They were appointed on Tuesday as the parliamentary hearing failed to take place as per the 45-day rule.