Miscellaneous
Prime minister election tomorrow
With the possibility of a consensus government ending on Thursday, Parliament is set to vote for a new prime minister on Sunday.Binod Ghimire
With the possibility of a consensus government ending on Thursday, Parliament is set to vote for a new prime minister on Sunday.
The House meeting on Friday scheduled the election based on a letter from President Ram Baran Yadav calling for a majoritarian government as per Article 298 (3) of the Constitution of Nepal.
Speaker Subas Nembang announced that vote for the new PM will start at 11am on Sunday. He authorised Parliament General Secretary Manohar Prasad Bhattarai to carry out the election process as the election officer.
According to the timetable published by the Parliament Secretariat, any lawmaker willing to contest for the top executive post can register their candidacy on Saturday from 11am to 4pm with one proposer and a seconder. The final list of candidates will be published at 4:30pm after verification on the same day.
The country will get the new PM by Saturday evening if there is only one candidate. If there are two or more contenders, voting will take place on Sunday. Nembang will table the candidacy of all the contenders for vote after their proposers and seconders speak in Parliament.
As the House regulations bar lawmakers for absenting from the voting process, chances are high that the new prime minister is elected on Sunday even if there are more than two candidates.
In case there are three candidates and no one gets a majority in two rounds of voting, the third round will be between two top candidates. A candidate needs 299 votes out of 598 lawmakers (excluding suspended Sanjay Sah) to be elected as the PM.