Kathmandu, March 16
The Election Commission has completed all preparations for election of vice-president slated for tomorrow.
Three candidates are vying for the vice-presidency - Janata Samajwadi Party-Nepal lawmaker Ram Sahay Prasad Yadav, Mamata Jha of Janamat Party, and CPN-UML lawmaker Asta Laxmi Shakya. Although JSP-N lawmaker Pramila Yadav remains legally a valid candidate, she has decided to stand down.
The EC will hold vice-presidential election from 10:00am to 3:00pm tomorrow. According to Assistant Polling Officer Amrita Kumari Sharma, there are 875 voters, including 325 federal lawmakers and 550 members of provincial assemblies. The name of Janata Samajwadi Party-Nepal lawmaker Shahnaz Rahman, who died of heart attack on February 25, is also there as her name had already been listed in the final voter list.
Sharma said they were trying to ensure that the election results were made public by 7:00pm tomorrow.
The EC has set up two polling stations at the Lhotse Hall of the Parliament - one for federal lawmakers and another for members of provincial assemblies.
There will be two ballot boxes - one for the federal lawmakers and another for provincial lawmakers. Federal lawmakers will enter the Parliament through the main gate while provincial lawmakers will use a different gate to enter the polling centre at the Parliament building.
The vice-president will be elected through an electoral college consisting of federal and provincial lawmakers. Federal and provincial lawmakers have different vote weightage.
Article 67 (2) of the constitution stipulates: The functions to be performed by the president shall be performed by the vice-president during the absence of the president.
Senior Advocate Radhe Shyam Adhikari said the constitution needed to be amended to give more power to the vice-president. "At present, the nation spends huge amount on the president by way of pay and perks, but the vice-president has almost no significant role to play. The vice-president chairs the Senate (Upper House of the Congress) meetings in the United States, and in India the vice-president chairs the meeting of the Rastriya Sabha (Upper House of the Parliament).
We can have similar provision to make the post of vice-president an important one," Adhikari added.
He said the members of the Constituent Assembly had discussed the powers of the vice-president along the same lines, but the CA could not incorporate those powers in the constitution due to the power balance that existed at that time.
Adhikari said the vice-president can also be given the important role of a diplomat, the role of Nepal's key diplomat at crucial times who could negotiate diplomatic issues with representatives of foreign governments and whose negotiations with foreign government should be given legal validity.
"At present, the vice-president does nothing except make visits when our embassies abroad call them to attend programmes to mark our National Day," Adhikari added. Adhikari further said the NA should also be given more powers as it was also an elected body. During times when emergency clause is invoked the NA performs all the functions that the House of Representatives performs. But the Upper House cannot perform the same roles on other occasions.
"Why can the budget not be presented in the NA when the House of Representatives is not there for any reason? he wondered. Adhikari said the constitution needed to be amended to ensure that the NA can pass those bills that have already been passed by the HoR even if the HoR tenure ends.
Article 111 (10) of the constitution stipulates: Even though a session of a House is prorogued while a Bill is under consideration, deliberations on the Bill may continue in the succeeding session.
A version of this article appears in the print on March 17, 2023, of The Himalayan Times.
