Urmila Aryal of the CPN (Maoist Center) was elected vice-president of the National Assembly without opposition on Monday.
Aryal has been elected without opposition after the main opposition Nepal Congress (NC) decided not to run its candidate against the common candidate of the ruling coalition.
Narayan Kaji Shrestha, leader of the Maoist Center parliamentary party in the National Assembly, was the proponent and CPN-UML lawmaker Devendra Dahal and independent lawmaker Khimlal Devkota were the supporters.
The post had been vacant since then-Vice President Shashi Kala Dahal’s term expired a year ago.
CPN-UML has 16 legislators in the National Assembly, Maoist Center 15, NC 10, CPN (Unified Socialist) eight, Janata Samajwadi Party three, and Loktantrik Samajwadi Party and Rastriya Janamorcha one each. One is independent and three are nominees.
The election for a vacant position is scheduled for Wednesday.
Aryal, who joined the Maoist Center by leaving UML nine years ago, was elected to the National Assembly a year ago. She was appointed UML Minister of Women, Children and Social Welfare in 2006.
Aryal, who is a member of the standing committee of the Maoist Center, participated in the 2013 and 2017 Parsa elections.
