KATHMANDU, Oct 30 : Nanda Bahadur Pun of UCPN (Maoist) and Amiya Prasad Yadav of Nepali Congress (NC) are contesting for the post of vice-president which is scheduled for Saturday.
With most of the political parties in the ruling coalition pledging their support to Pun, the victory of the former deputy commander of the Maoist army is almost certain.
Lawmakers will vote for the post on Saturday. Any candidate securing majority of votes in the 601-member parliament will secure the country’s key post.
Senior leader of CPN-UML Jhala Nath Khanal had proposed Pun as candidate and Rastriya Prajatantra Party-Nepal (RPP-N) chief whip Dilnath Giri seconded it at the parliament secretariat.
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Although other political parties in the ruling coalition had earlier tried to convince the Maoist leaders to nominate a candidate from the Madheshi community, the UCPN (Maoist) decided to contest Pun to the post. Amid dissatisfaction from some political parties within the alliance, a High Level Political Mechanism of the ruling partners finalized Pun’s candidacy at the eleventh hour on Friday.
Pun said that he will play a constructive role for the implementation of the new constitution. “My role will be supportive for the effective implementation of the new constitution and to protect the national charter as well as in unifying the countrymen,” he told reporters after filing his candidacy on Friday afternoon.
Other ruling partners have reportedly expressed their displeasure over Pun’s selection for the post by the UCPN (Maoist). The Maoist leadership has been reportedly criticized for proposing a second-rung leader of the party who had lost in the election held in the immediate past. He had lost the election from Kathmandu-4 constituency by a huge margin.
Leaders involved in negotiations informed that there was some apprehension among other parties in electing a former Maoist commander for the state’s key position.
Despite failure in electing its candidates for the posts of president, prime minister, speaker and deputy speaker, the largest party Nepali Congress (NC) has again fielded Yadav as its candidate for the post of vice-president.
NC’s chief whip Chinkaji Shrestha was the proposer of Yadav’s candidacy while the same party’s Ishwari Neupane seconded it.
Yadav has remained active in the NC ever since the time when the party was operating underground during the Panchayat regime.
After the political parties failed to forge consensus on any single candidate for the post, nomination of new vice-president has entered the voting process.
Election for the new vice-president is scheduled from 11 am to 2 pm at Lhotse Hall of the parliament building in New Baneshwar on Saturday. Election will be held through secret voting. The result of the election is scheduled to be announced in the parliament meeting at 5 pm on the same day.
