Who Are the Senior Members Who Administer Oaths to Parliamentarians in Nepal’s Parliamentary History?

March 26, Kathmandu – Newly elected members of the House of Representatives are currently taking their oath of office and secrecy. According to legal provisions, the senior-most member of the House administers the oath to the other members.

This time, the senior member Arjun Narasingh KC is administering the oath. He is 78 years old.

On Wednesday, President Ram Chandra Paudel administered the oath of office and secrecy to senior member KC at Sheetal Niwas. Today, KC is set to administer the oath to the remaining members.

The practice of the senior member administering the oath has been continuous since 1991 (2048 BS). However, in 1958 (2015 BS), oath-taking was administered by Giriprasad Budhathoki, who served as the acting chairman.

According to Rule 13 of the Rules of Procedure of the House of Representatives, 1960 (2016 BS), until the election of the speaker, Giriprasad Budhathoki was nominated as the acting chairman, based on a recommendation from the then Prime Minister to the then monarch (Shree 5). Budhathoki administered the oath to the other members and presided over the first two meetings of the House of Representatives’ first session.

At the third meeting, the newly elected speaker Krishna Prasad Bhattarai was sworn in by the House Secretary, Kul Shekhar Sharma, after which the acting chairman handed over the chairmanship to the newly elected speaker.

Since 1991 (2048 BS), it became customary for the senior-most member to administer the oath to the House members.

Article 51(3) of the Constitution of the Kingdom of Nepal, 1990 (2047 BS), stipulated that if neither the Speaker nor the Deputy Speaker of the House of Representatives was elected or both posts were vacant, meetings would be chaired by the oldest member by age.

At that time, before attending the first session of the House of Representatives following a general election, members were required to take an oath before the monarch (Shree 5). Accordingly, Khaleel Miya, a 74-year-old member of Nepali Congress elected from Sunsari district constituency no. 4, was sworn in as a member on June 19, 1991 (Ashar 5, 2048 BS).

Subsequently, Miya administered the oath to the remaining members on June 20, 1991 (Ashar 6, 2048 BS).

At that time, the first to take the oath were Prime Minister Girija Prasad Koirala, followed by ministers and opposition leader Manmohan Adhikari. Subsequently, other parliamentarians took the oath in 12 grouped batches.

In 1995 (2051 BS), the senior member was Bal Bahadur Rai, who was 72 years old. He administered the oath to the other members and presided over the House meetings until the speaker was elected.

In 1999 (2056 BS), senior member Girija Prasad Koirala, aged 75 at the time, took the oath on June 18 (Ashar 4) at Narayanhiti Royal Palace. He then administered the oath collectively to the other members on June 20 (Ashar 6, 2056 BS).

In 2006 (2063 BS), the reinstated Legislature Parliament convened under the chairmanship of senior member Bal Bahadur Rai. During this session, Subas Chandra Nembang was elected uncontested as the speaker of the Legislature-Parliament at the second meeting.

In 2007 (2064 BS), the first Constituent Assembly election was held. Among the elected members, Kul Bahadur Gurung was the senior member. On May 27, 2008 (Jestha 14, 2065 BS), he first took the oath himself at a special event in the Assembly hall, then administered the oath collectively to the other Constituent Assembly members.

After the 2013 (2070 BS) election, Surya Bahadur Thapa was the senior member of the second Constituent Assembly. He administered the oath to the remaining members.

Following the 2017 (2074 BS) election, Mahanta Thakur was the senior member elected to the House of Representatives. He administered the oath to the other members and presided over three sessions until the election of the speaker.

In 2022 (2079 BS), Pashupati Shamsher Jang Bahadur Rana served as the senior member and administered the oath to the other members.

This time, Arjun Narasingh KC is the senior member and is responsible for administering the oath to the other members.