National Assembly Chairman Ganesh Timalsina has taken exception to Speaker Agni Sapkota unilaterally picking Gopal Nath Yogi as the acting general secretary of the federal parliament.
Speaker Sapkota on Sunday had issued a letter picking Yogi to work as general secretary of the federal parliament, that includes the House of Representatives (HoR) and National Assembly, mentioning that he was selected in consultation with the National Assembly chairman.
Timalsina has taken exception to Sapkota unilaterally selecting Yogi and falsely claiming he was consulted when Sapkota reached the Timalsina's office inside the Singha Durbar on Tuesday, according to a source close to Timalsina.
The source added that Timalsina asked Sapkota to look at the criteria of age and legal questions about qualification for general secretary.
Yogi, who was appointed secretary of the HoR on recommendation of the erstwhile Maoists, will complete the threshold of 45 years 15 months later. Rajendra Phuyal, who was appointed secretary of National Assembly on recommendation of the then CPN-UML, is also just 41 years.
The erstwhile UML leaders in the ruling CPN want a third person to be picked for general secretary with Phuyal not qualifying due to age.
The position is currently vacant after Manohar Prasad Bhattarai retired.
Secretaries with the federal parliament secretariat Bharat Raj Gautam and Dhruba Ghimire are also in race for the post. Baburam Dahal, legal advisor to Prime Minister (PM) KP Sharma Oli, and advocate Tikaram Bhattarai are also taken as contenders for the position.
