Nepal to elect new President and Vice President in a month

The Legislative Parliament of Nepal on Sunday passed the bill concerning the elections of the president and the vice-president, which asks to hold the election for the new state head within one month of commencement of the new parliamentary meeting. The prevailing parliament is set to expire in the first week of 2018, as per the newly-promulgated Constitution of Nepal.

Lawmakers said that the President is the most admired post of the nation and is also the symbol of national unity and sovereignty. However, he added that the President should be elected directly by the people, as the western parliamentary system has been proved unsuccessful. But some lawmakers still are stressing on directly elected president and vice-president.

The election commission should hold the election before at least a month of the expiry of the tenure of the sitting president and vice-president or announce the date for the new president or the vice-president if the post is vacant within a month.

Nepal, which was declared a republic nation in 2008, have got two presidents till now - Dr. Rambaran Yadav as the first president and the chairing president Bidhya Devi Bhandari as the second and the first female president of Nepal.

As per the new bill a total of 884 voters, 275 from the House of Representatives, 59 from the National Assembly and 550 members from the Provincial Council will vote to elect the new state and deputy state heads.