Members of the Constituent Assembly (CA) were sworn in amid a ceremony at
the Birendra International Convention Centre (BICC), which will house the
601-member Assembly, Tuesday afternoon.
Kul Bahadur Gurung, 73, of Nepali Congress, who chaired the swearing in
ceremony as the eldest member of the CA, administered oath to 567 members
at the Sagarmatha Hall of the BICC.
The CA members were allowed to take oath in their mother languages.
While most of them were in informal attire some CA members from Madhesi
and indigenous communities appeared in their traditional costumes.
26 CA members are yet to be appointed by the cabinet, five persons had won
double seats while the CA Court has barred two winners, UML's Bisam Lal
Adhikari and Madhesi Janadhikar Forum's Sarat Singh Bhandari, from taking
oath as the writ petitions accusing of them of irregularities in the
election are yet to be decided.
Also absent in the swearing in the oath ceremony was Baban Singh, the
independent winner from Rautahat constituency-1, who is sought by the
police on a number of criminal cases.
Prime Minister Girija Prasad Koirala, Maoist chairman Prachanda, UML
general secretary Jhal Nath Khanal, MJF chief Upendra Yadav, former
Speaker Subas Nemwang and other key leaders who have been elected to the
CA were sworn in today.
Security had been massively heightened in and around BICC hours before the
swearing in ceremony began.
Two minor blasts had occurred in front of the BICC last evening, leading
to further intensification of security presence. nepalnews.com mk May 27 08
