KATHMANDU: The House of Representatives, elected in the March 5 polls, will convene for its first session on Thursday, marking the start of parliamentary work under the new public mandate. The session follows the Rastriya Swatantra Party (RSP) securing nearly a two-thirds majority, highlighting its national and international significance.
President Ramchandra Paudel has summoned sessions of both houses of the Federal Parliament at 2:00 pm on Thursday, acting on the recommendation of the Council of Ministers in accordance with the Constitution of Nepal. The House of Representatives will meet in the multi-purpose hall of the under-construction Federal Parliament Building at Singha Durbar, while the National Assembly session will take place in the old Parliament Secretariat building. This marks the 20th session of the National Assembly.
After 18 years, parliamentary sessions that were previously held at the International Convention Centre in New Baneshwor will now be conducted at the Singha Durbar parliament building. Traditionally, the seating arrangement in the House places ruling party MPs to the right of the Speaker, government seats in the centre, and opposition MPs to the left, ensuring proximity between the Prime Minister and the main opposition leader.
The main agenda of this first session is the election of the Speaker and Deputy Speaker. Constitutional provisions require that the House elect both positions within 15 days of the first meeting, with the Speaker and Deputy Speaker coming from different parties and genders. The senior-most MP presiding over the first meeting will welcome members and provide details about the session schedule, which will be finalized after today’s all-party meeting called by the Parliament Secretariat.
Key bills related to the Federal Civil Service Act, Police Act, and School Education Act, essential for federalism implementation, are expected to be presented and passed during the session. The Federal Civil Service bill, part of the 100-point Governance Reform Blueprint approved by the Cabinet on March 27, is to be drafted within 45 days.
In the 275-member House of Representatives, 165 MPs are elected through the first-past-the-post system and 110 through proportional representation. The Rastriya Swatantra Party holds 182 seats, the Nepali Congress 38, CPN-UML 25, NCP 17, Shram Sanskriti Party seven, RPP five, and one independent MP. Gender representation includes 179 men and 96 women, with a noticeable predominance of young MPs reflecting the Gen Z movement’s call for generational political change in September 2025.
As per the constitution, President Paudel will address the joint session of both houses. The Federal Parliament, structured as a bicameral legislature with the House of Representatives as the lower house and the National Assembly as the upper house, is responsible for lawmaking, government formation, approving policies and budgets, constitutional amendments, oversight of government activities, and ratification of international treaties.
The House of Representatives currently operates 10 subject committees covering finance, international relations, industry and commerce, labour, law and human rights, agriculture, social affairs, state affairs, governance and technology, education and health, and public accounts. Two joint committees oversee parliamentary hearings and implementation of state directives. The newly elected House has the authority to amend parliamentary rules and adjust committee structures as required.
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