KATHMANDU: Deputy Chairman of the Rastriya Swatantra Party (RSP), Dol Prasad (DP) Aryal, has officially filed his candidacy for the position of Speaker of the House of Representatives.

Candidate registration for the Speaker post took place on Friday, while the election is scheduled for April 5.

According to the Federal Parliament Secretariat, the nomination registration window was set from 11:00 AM to 2:00 PM, and the final list of candidates will be published at 2:30 PM.

During the House of Representatives meeting on April 5, a proposal will be presented to elect the Speaker, with a proposer and a seconder backing the nomination. After a collective discussion on the candidacies, the proposal will be put forward for decision.

Earlier, a meeting of the RSP held on Thursday had decided to nominate Aryal for the Speaker position. Following that decision, he registered his candidacy today.

At present, due to the absence of a Speaker, the senior-most member of the House of Representatives, Arjun Narsingh KC, has been presiding over the sessions.

Following the Speaker election, voting for the position of Deputy Chairperson of the National Assembly is scheduled for April 6, with nominations to be filed on April 5.

The Deputy Chairperson post has remained vacant since the tenure of Bimala Ghimire ended on March 4.