Vice-chairperson of the National Assembly Shashi Kala Dahal opened and ended the meeting on Tuesday with Chairman Ganesh Prasad Timalsina in Makwanpur on the day.
Vice-chairmen have conducted meetings in absence of the chairman in the past but this is the first time a vice-chairperson has started and ended the meeting of National Assembly.
The main opposition Nepali Congress (NC) had protested when Dahal tried to end the meeting some time back saying that would be against the regulation. The meeting was stalled instead of being stopped following the protest by NC.
The National Assembly regulation has been changed since allowing vice-chairperson to start and end meetings. The regulation now mentions that vice-chairperson can start and end the meetings with written instruction of the chairperson or in uncontrollable situation.