President Bidhya Devi Bhandari
Bidhya Devi Bhandari is the first female president of Nepal. (AP Photo)
The electoral college of Nepal comprising parliamentarians of the Federal Parliament and Provincial Assemblies will elect Nepal’s new President on Tuesday. The voting for the presidential election began Wednesday morning. Incumbent President Bidhya Devi Bhandari is standing in the fray for her second term challenged by Laxmi Rai from the Nepali Congress. The tenure of the current president, who was elected to the post in October 2015, will end soon.
In today’s voting, a total of 330 lawmakers from the Federal Parliament and 550 lawmakers from the Provincial Council are eligible to vote.
“The preparations for the election of today have been completed. We have made the arrangements to count the votes after the voting concludes, and the vote counting is expected to start after 4:00 p.m. and the results will be out by the evening,” Election Commission’s spokesperson Nawaraj Dhakal was quoted by ANI.
Early predictions indicate President Bhandari’s win with an overwhelming majority. If successful, she will be the first president of Federal Nepal. The Federal parliament was formed after the completion of House of Representatives and Province Assembly elections in December.
The Rastriya Janata Party- Nepal and the Federal Socialist Forum- Nepal are expected to vote in favour of Bhandari, who also set the record as the first female president of Nepal. There will also be a separate election to choose vice- president new vice president a week after the presidential election.
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