Nepal is going to vote for its new President on Thursday. The Election Commission on Wednesday announced the completion of the preparations for the election and announced the results at 7 pm (local time).
Election Officer Mahesh Sharma Poudel said, “All technical, human resource and other managerial preparations have been completed in view of the voting for the presidential election to be held at the Lhotse Hall of the Parliament House in New Baneshwar.” ANI.
The Electoral Commission has set up two separate polling stations for federal MPs and province assembly members in the hall.
Read also: Indian neighborhood in crisis once again due to political turmoil in Nepal
Voting will start at 10 am (local time) today and close at 3 pm (local time). Two candidates – senior Nepali Congress leader Ram Chandra Paudel and CPN (UML) vice-president Subhash Chandra Nembang – are in the fray.
The Election Officer’s Office has said that the counting of votes will begin after the polling ends at 3:00 pm (NST) on Thursday and the results are announced by 7:00 pm (NST). Meanwhile, legislators from all the provinces have already reached Kathmandu for the elections.
A total of 884 members make up the electoral college, including 275 members of the House of Representatives, 59 members of the National Assembly and 550 members of the seven provincial assemblies.
This means, if there are no vacancies in the Federal Parliament and Provincial Assemblies, the Electoral College will have a total weighting of 52,786 votes. To secure the top position a candidate must receive a majority of the total votes.
The weight of one vote of an MLA of the Federal Parliament is 79 and that of a Member of the Provincial Assembly is 48.
The pro-monarchy party will abstain from voting. The Rashtriya Prajatantra Party (RPP), known for its pro-monarchy example, has decided to stay away from Thursday’s presidential election.
The decision to abstain from today’s voting was taken at a meeting of the party’s Central Working Committee on Wednesday.
RPP spokesperson Mohan Shrestha confirmed that the Central Working Committee has decided to remain neutral in the presidential election.
Read also: Nepal bans solo trekking for foreigners from April 1, makes guide mandatory
“It has been unanimously decided not to participate in the presidential election and remain neutral,” Shrestha said.
In today’s election, senior Nepali Congress leader Ram Chandra Poudel has the support of eight parties, while CPN-UML’s lone candidate Subhash Chandra Nembang is expected to be supported by independent MPs.
The RPP did not endorse or propose any candidate for President. Both Paudel and Nembang later met RPP President Rajendra Lingden and other office bearers at the RPP office and sought votes in the election.
But the RPP has decided to abstain from voting on the eve of the presidential election. During the five-hour long meeting on Wednesday, most of the members of the Central Working Committee had said that the party should not participate in the presidential election as the agenda of the party is monarchy.
