The second session of the interim parliament, which was formed on January 15, is going to be held this afternoon.

Before the parliament sits in the afternoon, the top leaders of four major parties are expected to discuss and finalise the names of new Speaker and deputy Speaker.

The parties had failed to reach any understanding on the issue on January 15 after the Maoists staked their claim for the position of Speaker even as the Unified Marxist Leninist (UML) wanted to give continuity to Subash Nemwang as the Speaker of the interim parliament also.

Both the Maoists and the UML have equal number of seats in the interim parliament. They both have 83 seats each. Some reports have said that the Maoists have demanded either Speaker or senior deputy Prime Minister in the forthcoming interim government. The UML general secretary Madhav Kumar Nepal held meeting with Maoist leadership on Tuesday over this issue but they were unable to reach any agreement.