KATHMANDU, June 30

One of the candidates of the upcoming election for the post of president of the Federation of Nepalese Chambers of Commerce and Industry (FNCCI), Bhaskar Raj Rajkarnikar, today, announced that he would be willing to withdraw his nomination to pave the way for selecting a president unanimously.

Past presidents of FNCCI had been working on ways to select a president unanimously so as to unite and strengthen the institution. With the recent development, it is now almost certain that a president could be selected for the remaining term of the current executive committee without any election being held.

After Rajkarnikar’s announcement, there are now only two candidates — Officiating President Pashupati Murarka and Executive Member Bhawani Rana — in the race to lead FNCCI. However, Rajkarnikar has said that if there is no consensus on Murarka being selected unanimously, then he will not withdraw his nomination.

One of the past presidents of FNCCI and Disciplinary Committee Chair Ravi Bhakta Shrestha has opined that with Rajkarnikar’s announcement, it would now be easier to seek consensus among the two remaining candidates. “We are now close to selecting the president through consensus and the name of the president could be announced as early as tomorrow,” he said.

The election for the post of FNCCI president is slated for July 3. The post has remained vacant since its president Pradeep Jung Pandey was sentenced to jail in a three-decade old corruption charge on March 18, this year. The new chief of FNCCI will serve for the remaining term of the current executive committee that expires in April, 2017.

Media have been invited to a press conference tomorrow by the past presidents of FNCCI, following Rajkarnikar’s announcement. As per sources, the new chief of FNCCI could be announced at the meet.

In the programme organised by the Advertising Association Nepal (AAN), which seconded Rajkarnikar’s nomination for the upcoming election, he said that he had decided to step down for Murarka, who had supported him in the last election. Rajkarnikar was defeated by immediate past president Pandey in the last election.

As per FNCCI sources, Murarka could be selected as president and Bhawani Rana as senior vice president unanimously. Suraj Vaidya, past president of FNCCI said, “If there is consensus to select a president, Murarka will be at the helm of FNCCI for remaining term of this executive.”