Nepal set to choose its first President

It is almost certain that the president will be a person of Indian origin as all three mainstream parties have fielded Madhesi candidates from the southern Terai region bordering India for the coveted post.

Five hundred ninety four CA members are eligible to vote in the election for the president and vice president. Maoists’ candidate Ramraja Prasad Singh, 74, of Nava Janawadi Morcha, is likely to win the election as he is also backed by three Madhesi parties.

Singh, who did his Master’s degree (Law) from Delhi University, was arrested in 1985 for throwing a small bomb at parliament as part of an anti-royal protest.

Nepali Congress and the Communist Party of Nepal (United Marxist-Leninist), the second and third largest parties, have fielded Ram Baran Yadav and Ram Prit Paswan respectively for the president’s post.

The Maoists have 226 seats in the Constituent Assembly and with the support of Madhesi parties, which have 86 parliamentarians, Singh is likely to get at least 314 votes against the magic number of 298 required to win the election in the Constituent Assembly.

There are four vice presidential candidates on the fray representing three major parties and the Madhesi People’s Rights Forum.

Man Bahadur Bishwokarma is the Vice Presidential candidate of Nepali Congress while Ashta Laxmi Shakya, the only woman candidate, belongs to CPN-UML. The Madhesi People’s Rights Forum fielded Paramananda Jha while Shanta Shrestha is the candidate of the CPN-Maoist.

Nepali Congress and CPN-UML leaders today held meetings for possible alliance to elect the vice president of their choice as Singh’s victory for the post of president is almost certain.

Both Nepali Congress and CPN-UML, who have failed to reach a pact with the Maoists, are working for possible alliance to implement their future political strategies.

CPN-UML has announced that it would not join the Maoist government and would not make any alliance with the Maoists as the former rebels have broken a pact with them by proposing Singh as their candidate for president’s post.

Nepali Congress has also announced to sit in the opposition bench ruling out possibility of joining the Maoist led government.

Maoists, who ended their decade-long armed struggle for abolition of monarchy in 2006 and joined political mainstream, emerged as the single largest party after the April 10 elections and are demanding the leadership of the new government.