Nepali Congress (NC) has said that the election for president should be held on time.
A meeting of NC office-bearers held at party president Sher Bahadur Deuba’s residence in Dhumbarahi on Monday decided to draw the attention of the government and the Election Commission for timely holding of the presidential election.
NC spokesperson Prakash Sharan Mahat said after the meeting that the election should be held on time. “The presidential election should not be postponed for any reason,” Mahat said. “Even if there are problems in any laws and acts, they should be resolved.”
He said that they have also drawn the attention of the government and the Election Commission to start the election process.
NC gave the vote of confidence to Prime Minister Pushpa Kamal Dahal on January 10 but it has been saying that it is the main opposition.
The party had fielded candidates for speaker and deputy speaker of the House of Representatives. The ruling coalition’s common candidates were elected to both the posts.
NC has also decided to file candidacy for the presidential election with the support of other parties.
NC believes CPN (Maoist Center) will support it in the president’s election. PM Dahal had called an all-party meeting at Baluwatar a few days ago and proposed holding discussions between parties on constitutional posts but CPN-UML Chairman KP Sharma Oli opposed it.
NC has been saying that it should get the post of president. “Attempts are being made to defer the presidential election even later than March 13, we will not accept that under any circumstances,” Mahat said.
The dates for the elections of president and vice-president have not been set yet as the provisions in the Constitution and the election law contradict each other. As per the Constitution, the president’s term is of five years. But according to the election law, a new president should be elected a month before the president’s term ends. NC has demanded that the presidential election be held by resolving this issue.
NC Joint General Secretary Badri Pandey also said that the meeting of office-bearers discussed holding the presidential election on time.
“The government should show expediency if there are legal and constitutional contradictions,” he said. “Congress will field its candidate for president. The conclusion of today’s meeting is to discuss with other parties and put in a united effort.”
He said that the presidential election should be held by mid-March so that the new president takes office on the day the president’s five-year term ends as per the constitutional provision.
Although NC has been staking claim to the post of president, it hasn’t held discussion on who to field as its candidate. Senior leader Ram Chandra Paudel and former general secretary Krishna Prasad Sitaula are being touted as the likely candidates.
