Four candidates likely to file nomination for Nepal's Vice President's post

KATHMANDU:  As many as four candidates from Nepal's three main political parties will be filing their nomination for the post of Vice President on Saturday, the election for which will take place on March 17.

Filing of nominations will take place at the Parliament Building in New Baneshwor in Kathmandu from 9 am to 2 pm, according to Assistant Election Officer Amrita Kumari Sharma.

Like the President, the Vice President is elected by an electoral college comprising the members of the Federal Parliament (House of Representatives and the National Assembly) and the Provincial Assembly.

The total number of voters is 882, including 332 federal Members of Parliament and 550 provincial assembly members.

The vote weightage of the federal Member of Parliament is 79 and that of the provincial assembly member is 48.

As per the Constitution, the president and vice president should represent different gender or ethnic groups. Four candidates are likely to register for nomination for the post of Vice President, according to party sources.

CPN-UML has decided to field Ashta Laxmi Shakya as the candidate for the post of Vice President.

Similarly, Janamat Party has decided to field Mamata Jha as the candidate for Vice President and Janata Samajwadi Party has decided to field Pramila Yadav and Ram Sahaya Yadav as the candidate.

The voting for the post will be held on March 17. Jha and both the Yadav belong to the Madhesi community and they both are from the eight-party alliance.

The Madhesi community in Nepal's southern Terai region is mostly of Indian origin.