Prime Ministerial Election in Nepal

Although last time it had taken 17 rounds of elections spanning seven months to elect a prime minister, indications this time is that Nepal will get a new prime minister on 28 August.
With Baburam Bhattarai, Maoist (Unified Communist Party of Nepal-Maoist (UCPN-M)) parliamentary board in-charge, and Ram Chandra Poudel, (the Nepali) Congress parliamentary party leader, filing their nomination papers on 26 August for the prime ministerial contest, the result is possible in the first round as per the revised legislation (parliamentary regulation).
Law on Consensus
Speaker Subhas Chandra Nemwang of the Constituent Assembly expects the result at the very first round. ‘In view of the unpleasant experiences in the past, we had amended the law on consensus vote to prevent anyone to abstain from voting except for reasons specified in the law, and to remain neutral while being present’ (at the time of voting), he told Nagarik. ‘I have also reminded the meeting (of the legislature-parliament) of the same on 25 August.’
He expressed the hope that all members (of the Constituent Assembly) will be present at the meeting on 28 August to elect a prime minister and vote. Sixteen rounds of elections for a prime minister failed to produce results last February, and the election had to be deferred to reform the regulation.
Prime Minister Jhal Nath Khanal was elected as prime minister only after elections were held under the new arrangements after the amendment of the regulation. The election this time will also decide whether Congress Parliamentary Party leader Poudel, who was defeated in all 17 rounds of elections at that time, will be elected to the office of the chief executive of the country.
Under the amended regulation, no member of parliament will be allowed to remain absent without the permission of the speaker. The amendment also changes the previous system of proposing (one prime ministerial candidate) at a time for vote and votes were for or against. (The main problem was also two other forms of votes: abstention even if the member was present at the meeting, and neutral vote).
The proposal of both the candidates contesting the prime ministerial election would be put to a vote at once when the legislature-parliament meets for election scheduled to begin at 1300 (Nepal standard time). The members can caste only their ‘yes’ votes.
At the meeting, Speaker Nemwang will ask members supporting Bhattarai to remain seated on the one side of the lobby while those supporting Poudel will be asked to remain seated on the other side.
The speaker has already issued a ‘ruling’ that parliamentarians cannot be absent from the meeting except for the permission of the speaker or for a justifiable reason. However, how effectively this ruling is implemented is doubtful because during Prime Minister Khanal's election held on 3 February 2011, all members of the Madhesi Janadhikar Forum were absent from the meeting yet no action was taken against them.
The regulation provides that each candidate for the office of the prime minister should inform the secretary general (of the Constituent Assembly) along with a proposer and an endorser. At the 28 August meeting, first of all Maoist contestant Bhattarai will address the parliament and propose his candidature. Soon after, Maoist Chairman Pushpa Kamal Dahal, the proposer, and (UCPN-M Vice Chairman) Narayan Kaji Shrestha, the endorser, will speak in support of Bhattarai.
Then another candidate, Poudel, will present his case. His proposer, Prakash Man Singh, and endorser, Bimalendra Nidhi, will speak. Soon after, the speaker will allow both candidates time to withdraw their candidature in favor of the other. Even if there is a single candidate left in the contest, elections have to be held to prove the majority. If no candidate withdraws, the candidature wi ll be put to a vote at once. This means the vote will be only in support of either of the candidates, with no ‘no’ vote.
Since the parliament has effectively 594 members, a candidate must win support of at least 298 votes. The Unified Maoists (UCPN-M) has 237 members and (the Nepali) Congress has 114 members. Therefore, both the parties need the support of other political parties. The UCPN-M can easily win a majority votes if it is able to win the support of the United Democratic Madhesh Front (UDMF), which has a combined membership of 65. It will be necessary for the (Nepali) Congress to win support of UML (Communist Party of Nepal-Unified Marxist Leninist), which has 105 members, the UDMF, and other smaller political parties.
Before the regulation was amended, the proposer had the right to withdraw the candidature (in the prime ministerial contest) but now this right is with the candidate. In the prime ministerial election held on 21 July 2010, Madhav Kumar Nepal, who was the proposer, had announced the withdrawal of the candidature of (CPN-UML) Chairman Jhal Nath Khanal from the prime ministerial contest. It was after this that the regulation went through amendment.
Priority to Peace and Constitution
Baburam Bhattarai is the prime ministerial candidate from the UCPN-M while Ram Chandra Poudel is the candidate from (the Nepali) Congress. Both the candidates, who registered their candidature with Manohar Bhattarai, parliament's secretary general, are vice chairman (Poudel is vice president) of their respective parties. Bhattarai is UCPN-M's parliamentary board in-charge and Poudel is (the Nepali) Congress parliamentary party leader.
Both were directly elected from Gandaki Zone in the Constituent Assembly election. Bhattarai, who hails from Khoplang 4 (village) in Gorkha District, has Maoist Chairman Dahal as proposer and Narayan Kaji Shrestha as endorser.
Poudel, who hails from Risti 2 (village) in Tanahu District, has Prakash Man Singh as proposer and Bimalendra Nidhi as endorser. Poudel wanted (former prime minister) Sher Bahadur Deuba as his proposer but the later said he could not make it because he was indisposed. Nidhi is close to Deuba and was chosen as endorser.
The 57-year-old Bhattarai has reached the parliament secretariat along with Chairman Dahal, Vice Chairman Shrestha, General Secretary Ram Bahadur Thapa, Post Bahadur Bogati, Dev Prasad Gurung, Dinanath Sharma, and Hisila Yami to register the candidacy at 1120. Soon after registering, Chairman Dahal, in a brief comment, said, ‘We are contesting for (supporting) peace and constitution.’ Maoist spokesperson Dinanath Sharma said even if the candidacy had been registered, efforts at consensus continued.
The 67-year-old Poudel reached the parliament secretariat 70 minutes after the Maoists had registered. He was accompanied by Singh, the party general secretary, Nidhi and other leaders. After registering, he said he wanted an end to impunity, peace, good governance, and constitution. He also reiterated that the search for consensus was on. Speaker Nemwang has already fixed 28 August to decide on their candidature.