The Federal Parliament Secretariat has begun preparations to administer the oath of office to newly-elected members of the House of Representatives.
According to Padma Prasad Pandeya, general secretary of the Federal Parliament, preparations are underway to conduct the swearing-in ceremony on March 26.
Pandeya said that the official date will be fixed once the Election Commission submits its final report.
"The Election Commission has said that they will submit the report by March 19," Pandey said. "After that, we will officially set the date for administering the oath to the newly-elected lawmakers. Our current plan is to schedule the oath-taking for March 26."
The newly-elected lawmakers will be sworn in by the eldest member of the House.
The Election Commission forwards the name of the eldest member to both the Office of the President and the Parliament Secretariat. The eldest member will first take the oath from the president and subsequently administer the oath to the other members.
In the new House, 78-year-old Arjun Narsingh KC of the Nepali Congress is the eldest member.
Pandeya said that a hall has been prepared for the ceremony within the under-construction Parliament building inside Singha Durbar.
The previous Parliament building at the International Convention Center in New Baneshwar was set on fire during the Gen-Z movement on September 9.
Pandeya said that since the new Parliament building is still under construction and not fully ready new House sessions, one hall has been temporarily readied for use.
According to Pandeya, a meeting has also been called for Thursday with representatives from the parties entering Parliament – including the Rastriya Swatantra Party, Nepali Congress, CPN-UML, Nepali Communist Party, Shram Sanskriti Party, and Rastriya Prajatantra Party. The meeting aims to provide informal briefings on the swearing-in ceremony and remind members of parliamentary decorum.
The House of Representatives election was held on March 5.
