2008 Nepalese presidential election
![]() | ||||||||||||||||||||||
| ||||||||||||||||||||||
| ||||||||||||||||||||||
|
![]() |
---|
![]() |
In the newly passed amendment, the majority party will form the government, the CA will elect the new president on the basis of majority and a new provision that the Opposition Leader will be a member of the Constitutional Council.
Organisation
The election is conducted by the Office of the Election Officer (OEO). On 16 July 2008 OEO released a voters list of 593 CA members. The CA was 601 seats in total, but by-elections are due in five constituencies and three CA members had not been sworn in at the time.[4]
Candidates
On 9 June 2008, the CPN (Maoist) declared that five names from outside their party they would consider for the presidency:
- Sahana Pradhan
- Ram Raja Prasad Singh
- Nara Bahadur Karmacharya
- Padma Ratna Tuladhar
- Devendra Raj Pandey.[5]
Negotiations between CPN(Maoist) and CPN(UML) appeared to have broken down by 17 July 2008 so the three major parties all nominated their own candidates for president and vice-president. All three main presidential candidates were
Party | Presidential candidate | Vice-presidential candidate |
---|---|---|
Communist Party of Nepal (Maoist) | Ram Raja Prasad Singh | Shanta Shrestha |
Nepali Congress | Ram Baran Yadav | Min Bahadur Bishwokarma
|
Communist Party of Nepal (Unified Marxist-Leninist)
|
Ramprit Paswan | Astalaxmi Shakya |
Madhesi Janadhikar Forum | Parmanand Jha |
On the day of the poll the CPN(UML) and MJF agreed to back the NC candidate for the presidency and the CPN(UML) and NC agreed to back the MJF candidate for the vice-presidency, thus nullifying the agreement the Maoists had with the three Madhesi parties.[10]
Results
578 CA members participated in the poll on 19 July 2008.
On 19 July,
On 21 July, Ram Baran Yadav of the Nepali Congress, who was supported by the CPN (UML) and MJF, got support from around 308 Constituent Assembly members in 594 Constituent Assembly members. His rival was Ram Raja Prasad Singh, nominated by the CPN (M).
President
Candidate | Party | First round | Second round | |||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Votes | % | Votes | % | |||
Ram Baran Yadav | Nepali Congress | 283 | 51.18 | 308 | 52.20 | |
Ram Raja Prasad Singh | Communist Party of Nepal (Maoist) | 270 | 48.82 | 282 | 47.80 | |
Total | 553 | 100.00 | 590 | 100.00 | ||
Valid votes | 553 | 95.84 | ||||
Invalid/blank votes | 24 | 4.16 | ||||
Total votes | 577 | 100.00 | ||||
Source: Nepal News[16] |
Vice-President
Candidate | Party | Votes | % | |
---|---|---|---|---|
Parmanand Jha | Madheshi Jana Adhikar Forum, Nepal | 305 | 55.66 | |
Shanta Shrestha | Communist Party of Nepal (Maoist) | 243 | 44.34 | |
Total | 548 | 100.00 | ||
Source: Nepal News[16] |
References
- ^ "CA to Elect President on 19 July". Nepal News. 2008-07-14. Retrieved 2008-07-21.[permanent dead link]
- ^ "Fifth Amendment Passed; Coast Cleared for Forming Majority Govt". Nepal News. 2008-07-14. Retrieved 2008-07-21.[permanent dead link]
- ^ "Nepal's Top Political Parties Begin Search for Country's First President". International Herald Tribune. 2008-07-15. Retrieved 2008-07-21.
- ^ "Election Office set to hold Presidential Election". eKantipur.com. 2008-07-16. Retrieved 2008-07-21.
- ^ "Maoist Propose Five Names for President". Nepal. Telegraph Nepal. 2006-06-09. Archived from the original on 2015-09-24. Retrieved 2008-07-21.
- ^ "Parties Fail to Pick Common Presidential Candidate; Frontrunners are Three Madhesis". Nepal News. 2008-07-17. Archived from the original on 2008-11-22. Retrieved 2008-07-21.
- ^ "CPN-M President Candidate Gathers Simple Majority". People's Daily Online. 2008-07-17. Retrieved 2008-07-21.
- ^ "Nepali Political Parties File Different Names for 1st President". People's Daily Online. 2008-07-17. Retrieved 2008-07-21.
- ^ "Candidates for President, Veep File Nominations; Singh Stands Fair Chance". 2008-07-17. Archived from the original on 2008-10-06. Retrieved 2008-07-21.
- ^ a b "Voting for President, Vice President Completes 16 CA Members Absent". Nepal News. 2008-08-19. Archived from the original on 2008-10-12. Retrieved 2008-07-21.
- ^ "PM meets with Chure Bhawar Leader; Parties Intensify Parleys". Nepal News. 2008-07-20. Archived from the original on 2008-11-22. Retrieved 2008-07-21.
- ^ "Nepali Vice President Elected, New Date for President Voting set". www.chinaview.cn. 2008-07-19. Archived from the original on August 2, 2008. Retrieved 2008-07-21.
- ^ a b "Vote Setback for Nepalese Maoists". BBC News. 2008-07-21. Retrieved 2008-07-21.
- ^ "Nepali Presidential Re-Election Voting Concludes". Xinhua. China Daily. 2008-07-21. Retrieved 2008-07-21.
- ^ "Ram Yadav Elected 1st Nepali President". Xinhua. 2008-07-21. Retrieved 2008-07-21.[dead link]
- ^ a b "Jha Becomes Nepal's First Vice President; Re-Polling for President set for Monday". Nepal News. 2008-07-19. Archived from the original on 2008-10-12. Retrieved 2008-07-21.