Kathmandu, March 18

Incumbent Vice-president Nanda Bahadur Pun was today re-elected to the post unopposed, as no other candidate filed nomination.

The election of the VP was slated for March 23 but the Election Commission declared Pun’s victory, as he was the lone candidate for the post.

EC Spokesperson Navaraj Dhakal said the office of the returning officer established to hold election of vice-president declared Pun’s victory.  According to Dhakal, Chief Election Commissioner Ayodhi Prasad Yadav handed over the victory certificate to Pun.

Vice-president Pun was the common candidate of the CPN-UML and CPN-Maoist Centre. The two parties had forged consensus to re-elect both president and vice-president.

President Bidhya Devi Bhandari has already been re-elected to the post of head of the state. As per the constitutional provision, the president and the vice-president should be of different gender or from different communities.

The Nepali Congress, which is the main opposition party, had contested the presidential election, but did not field any candidate for the vice president’s post.

President Bhandari will administer oath of office and secrecy to Pun.