Nepal Gets First woman Speaker of Parliament

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nepalKATHMANDU:  Nepal Parliament unanimously elected UCPN (Maoist) leader Onsari Gharti Magar as its speaker,

With her election to the post, Magar has succeeded in becoming the first woman speaker in the country's history. She is also the first woman to reach a top-five post in Nepal.

After her election, Magar committed herself to doing her best to conduct parliament with proper coordination and the cooperation of all political forces.

"All the political parties have stood together while electing me to this post. This unity should be maintained for the betterment of the country," Magar said while emerging from the parliament building after the election. She also appealed to people from all walks of life to play a positive role for the effective implementation of the new constitution.

Magar was elected upon the proposal of CPN-UML Vice-chairperson Bidyadevi Bhandari, which was seconded by Kunti Shahi of the fourth-largest party, Rastriya Prajatantra Party-Nepal (RPP-N). The ruling coalition of CPN-UML, UCPN (Maoist) and RPP-N had reached an understanding on electing her while the main opposition Nepali Congress (NC) did not contest the post.

"Magar's election to this top post holds special significance because she is a lady who struggled very hard to get here on her own," said Bhandari while proposing Magar's candidacy. "Not only Nepal but the international community should be proud on her election." Both Magar and Yadav were elected unopposed as the Nepali Congress (NC), which was widely expected to contest the post of speaker, had not filed any candidacy as of 2 p.m. Friday, when the deadline for filing nominations ended.

Nepal Workers Peasants Party (NWPP) filed the candidacy of Anuradha Thapa and Dilli Prasad Kafle for speaker and deputy speaker respectiely. But as the constitution bars a single party from contesting both the posts, NWPP withdrew Kafle's candidacy.

Leaders from the major political parties and the parliament secretariat then decided to conduct a vote for speaker. But Magar was elected unopposed as the party leaders took the initiative until the last minute to have Thapa's candidacy withdrawn. Minister for Law, Justice and Parliamentary Party Affairs Agni Kharel played an active role in persuading NWPP Chairman Narayanman Bijukchhe to withdraw Thapa's candidacy.

Kharel, acting on behalf of Prime Minister KP Sharma Oli and UCPN (Maoist) Chairman Pushpa Kamal Dahal, engaged in talks with Bijukchhe. "He agreed to withdraw upon our request," said Kharel. Elected to parliament from Rolpa-2, the bastion of Maoist insurgency, Magar has been deputy speaker in the House so far.

She was Constituent Assembly (CA) member in the first CA as well. She was briefly minister for sports. Magar, who is regarded as a bold and active politician in the Maoist party, was involved in the Maoist insurgency against state forces. She joined the insurgency from the very beginning when the Maoist party launched its violent war against the state in 1996.

She was one of two female Maoist fighters involved in the famous Holeri incident in 1996 when the Maoists first attacked a police post.

Later, she became the first female commissar of the Maoist army in 2002 and she also became the party's central committee member when she was 25 years old. onsari-ghart-elected-as-first-female-speaker-of-parliament. (Agencies)

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