Nepal to elect new President by end of this month

KATHMANDU: Nepal will initiate the process of electing a new president this week to succeed incumbent Ram Baran Yadav, officials said today.

Nepal elected a new Prime Minister, Speaker and Deputy Speaker last week.

The Parliament will at its meeting on October 24 would initiate the process of electing the new president and the vice president, sources at the Parliament Secretariat said.

As per Article 297 of the Constitution, the election of heads of the country's constitutional bodies should be held within a month of commencement of the Winter Session of Parliament.

The first Parliament session started on October 2 after the promulgation of the new Constitution on September 20, which means the country should get a new president towards the end of October.

A successful presidential candidate needs a minimum of 299 votes to win the race in the 598-member Parliament.

The newly-elected president will succeed Yadav who was elected as the first president of Republic Nepal on July 23, 2008 after the abolition of 240-year-old monarchy.

The Nepal parliament elected K P Sharma Oli of the Communist Party of Nepal (Unified Marxist-Leninst) as Prime Minister on October 11 and Onsari Gharti Magar of UCPN-Maoist as Speaker on October 16 -- the first woman Speaker of the country.

During a function here last week, Yadav had indicated that he would be interested to serve for a second term if political parties backed him.

Other probable contestants for the top posts are Vidya Devi Bhandari of ruling CPN-UML, K B Gurung of main opposition the Nepali Congress and Mahantha Thakur of Terai Madhes Democratic Party, one of the key agitating parties against the new Constitution.