KATHMANDU, MARCH 11

Four candidates have registered their candidacies for the vice-presidential election to be held next Friday.

Two candidates from Janata Samajwadi Party and one each from the CPN-UML and Janamat Party registered their nominations at the Office of Election Officer in New Baneshwor today.

The eight-party coalition that was formed for the presidential election, however, could not agree on a common candidate for the vice-presidential election. The alliance had supported the Janata Samajwadi Party candidate for the vice-presidency. But Janamat Party, another alliance member, also decided to field a separate candidate for the vice-president's post.

After the Chief Election Commissioner's statement that only women could be nominated for the post of vice-president, the coalition faced a dilemma and fielded two people - one woman and one man - from the JSP.

Separate nominations of Ram Sahay Yadav and Pramila Yadav were registered from the JSP. Ram Sahay Yadav's candidacy was proposed by Ashok Kumar Rai and Pradeep Yadav of the JSP, Kisan Shrestha of Unified Socialist Party, Shakti Basnet of the Maoist Centre and Ramesh Jung Rayamajhi of the Nepali Congress. Those seconding his candidature were Rekha Yadav, Ambika Kafle, Prakash Jwala, Khimlal Devkota and Bhanubhakta Joshi.

The proponents of Pramila Yadav's candidacy were Ranju Jha, Mrigendra Kumar Singh Yadav, Naval Kishore Sah, Deepak Karki and Rajkishore Yadav. Among those who seconded her candidacy were Anita Devkota, Bimala Subedi, Sita Gurung, Jayanthi Rai and Manis Kumar Suman.

'Since the EC statement is not clear, the JSP made arrangements to register the candidacy of both man and woman,' said Beduram Bhusal, leader of the CPN (Unified Socialist), an alliance partner.

He further said, 'Four parties of the alliance - the Nepali Congress, CPN-Maoist Centre, CPN (US) and Janata Samajwadi Party-Nepal - together had agreed on a common candidate from the alliance.'

'The other four parties of the alliance were not there when this decision was taken,' added Bhusal. He also said that Janamat Party Chair CK Raut had agreed to support them.

Mamta Jha's candidacy has also been registered from the Janamat Party. Nagarik Unmukti Party has supported Jha's candidacy. The proponents of her candidacy were Abdul Khan, Anita Devi, Gangaram Chaudhary, Aviram Sharma and Rupa Kumari Yadav.

Among those seconding her candidacy were Goma Labh Sapkota, Basanta Kumar Kushwaha, Ram Prakash Chaudhary, Ranikumari Tiwari and Binita Kumari Singh.

The CPN-UML, the second largest party in the Parliament, has fielded Ashtalakshmi Shakya, the party's vice-president, for the vice-president's post. UML Chairman KP Sharma Oli along with leaders Subash Chandra Nembang, Secretaries Chabi Lal Bishwakarma, Raghubir Mahaseth and Gokaran Raj Bista were the proponents of Shakya's candidature.

Those seconding Shakya's candidacy include Krishna Gopal Shrestha, Mahesh Bertaula, Tulsa Dahal, Bhagwati Neupane and Yashoda Rimal.

The CPN-UML parliamentary party meeting held this morning had decided to field Shakya for the post of vice-president.

The Election Commission had fixed a deadline of 2:00pm today for the filing nomination. The election of the vice-president will be held next Friday.

The Election Commission has published the names of 882 voters for the vice-presidential election. The total weightage of the votes of the 332 voters of the Federal Parliament and 550 voters of the Provincial Assembly adds up to 52,628, thus requiring a candidate to bag at least 26,315 votes to win the election.

In the event that no candidate gets a majority, there is a provision for a revote between the two candidates with the most votes.

After the Election Commission gave instructions to register the nomination of only female candidates for the vice-presidential election yesterday, there was pressure on the parties to pick a female candidate.

A version of this article appears in the print on March 12, 2023, of The Himalayan Times.