KATHMANDU: The Secretariat of Speaker Dev Raj Ghimire has stated that the election notice for the State Affairs and Good Governance Committee could not be published because the Nepali Congress has yet to finalize its candidate for the committee chair.

The position became vacant after Ramhari Khatiwada resigned as chairperson following disputes over the “cooling period” provision in the Civil Service Bill.

By law, the vacant post must be filled within 15 days. Since Khatiwada resigned on August 12, the Speaker is obliged to hold the election on Monday.

If Nepali Congress forwards the name of its candidate, the way will open to publish the election schedule. As there is already an understanding between the Nepali Congress and CPN-UML, no other parties are claiming the position.

On Sunday, Speaker Ghimire held repeated discussions with Nepali Congress Chief Whip Shyam Ghimire regarding the matter. However, the Chief Whip requested to wait for the party’s internal decision, which delayed the publication of the election notice.

The Speaker’s Secretariat said, “Efforts made throughout Sunday to publish the election notice for the State Affairs and Good Governance Committee chair did not succeed. Since no other party has laid claim, the Speaker held two rounds of talks with the Congress Chief Whip.

However, he requested to postpone the notice until after internal discussions. He has said that the Nepali Congress office-bearers’ meeting scheduled for this morning will finalize the decision. The Speaker has made it clear that, according to the rules, the notice must be published today.”