Polling underway for Nepal presidential election

Nepal Constituent Assembly building

Polling is underway to elect a new president in Nepal amid tight security. The presidential candidate Ram Chandra Paudel inaugurated voting by casting his vote. Voting started at 10 am and will continue until 3 pm. Two separate polling stations have been designated for the voters in the Lhotse chamber in the Parliament Building for the House of Representatives and for members of the provincial assembly. The election commission of Nepal has deployed 7 employees at each polling station.

Ram Chandra Paudel from the Nepali Congress and Subash Chandra Nembang from the CPN (UML) are vying for the presidential post. Ram Chandra Paudel, the former Speaker, has been supported by the recent coalition of nine political parties that is NC, CPN (Maoist Centre), CPN (Unified Socialist), Janata Samajwadi Party Nepal, Loktantrik Samajwadi Party Nepal, Janamat Party, Nagarik Unmukti Party, Rastriya Janamorcha and Nepal Samajwadi Party. Subash Chandra Nembang previously served as chairperson of the then Constituent Assembly.

According to the Constitution of Nepal, a president will be elected, and the president is entrusted with the responsibility to protect and abide by the constitution and promote national unity. He shall be a citizen of Nepal by descent and be more than 4 years old. He should be registered in the latest electoral roll and should not hold any position of profit.

The country entered the presidential system following the establishment of the republic through the movements in the year 2006. On May 28, 2008, the newly elected Constituent Assembly declared Nepal as the Federal Democratic Republic, abolishing the 240-year-old monarchy, after which Nepal has the post of  President today. According to the constitution, no person shall be elected to the Office of President more than twice.

The Electoral College comprises the members of the Federal Parliament and Province Assemblies. There are a total of 882 eligible voters in the Federal Parliament (the House of Representatives and the National Assembly) and the Province Assembly (332 under the Federal Parliament and 550 under the Province Assembly). The Federal Parliament has 79 weighted votes, and the Province Assembly has 48.