Nepali Congress (NC) leader Gagan Thapa has expressed dissatisfaction with the party for not contesting the election for speaker.
CPN lawmaker Agni Sapkota will be elected speaker unanimously after no other party fielded candidate for the post.
NC, that had not contested the election against former speaker Krishna Bahadur Mahara, had earlier hinted that it may field candidate this time citing that the ruling party has fielded a murder-accused in the election.
Sapkota has been accused of abduction and murder of chairman of the management committee of Sri Krishna Secondary School of Tapcha, Kavre Arjun Bahadur Lama during the Maoist insurgency.
But the NC parliamentary party meeting held Tuesday decided to not contest for the post of speaker stating that the post of speaker should be neutral.
NC central committee member and lawmaker Thapa has expressed displeasure at the decision stating that grave crimes during the conflict period should not be ignored. "Peace process is a special political arrangement but that does not mean ignoring grave crimes during the conflict period and impunity for perpetrators of such crimes. Light comments by CPN chairman, decision of the ruling party and support by the opposition do not bode well. Let there be no effort to stop judicial process in the guise of special position," Thapa has tweeted.
There are reports that NC did not field candidate for speaker to try to get the post of deputy speaker.
CPN Chairman Pushpa Kamal Dahal called Nepali Congress (NC) President Sher Bahadur Deuba Monday night and urged the main opposition leader to support CPN candidate for speaker and Dahal's confidant Agni Sapkoa in the election. "Dahal asked Deuba to make Sapkota unanimous candidate and promised to talk with Prime Minister KP Sharma Oli to give the post of deputy speaker to NC in return," a leader close to Deuba told Setopati.
Dahal also met senior NC leader Ram Chandra Paudel Tuesday morning even as the NC parliamentary party meeting was on to decide about whether to filed candidate for the post of speaker or not.
NC sources claim that Dahal told Paudel that the ruling CPN is positive about giving the post of deputy speaker to NC during the meeting.
The NC parliamentary party decided to not contest for the post of speaker shortly after the Dahal-Paudel meeting ended.
