The Electoral Commission has announced the date of the presidential and vice-presidential elections.
It has decided to hold a presidential presidential election on March 9 and a vice presidential election on March 17, according to an electoral commissioner.
The Electoral Commission is preparing to inform the government about the dates on the same Monday.
The act related to the election of president and vice president requires the Election Commission to fix the date of the election and inform the government about it. Federal and provincial legislators are voters in the election of president and vice president.
There was confusion about the presidential election due to the conflicting provisions of the Constitution and the law.
Article 63(1) of the Constitution states that ‘The term of office of the President shall be five years from the date he is elected’.
Article 63(2) of the Constitution provides that ‘The President whose term of office under clause (1) has expired shall continue to perform the functions provided for in this Constitution until another President-elect takes office.’
Meanwhile, the law on the election of the president states that the date of the election should be set so that the election is held one month before the term of the predecessor expires.
President Bidya Devi Bhandari’s term expires on March 13. If her successor were elected one month earlier, there would be two active presidents, since article 63(1) specifies that the president’s term starts from the date he or she is elected.
The term of successive presidents, in this way, would be shortened by one month each and successive elections would have to be brought forward one month after each term if the provisions of the law were complied with.
The main opposition Nepali Congress (NC) has been demanding that the elections be held before March 13.
CPN-UML Chairman KP Sharma Oli and Prime Minister (PM) Pushpa Kamal Dahal also discussed the presidential election during their meeting in Baluwatar on Sunday.
