Speaker Subas Nembang announced the date during the first meeting of the winter session of parliament Sunday.[break]
The voting on Tuesday will either elect the lone Nepal Congress (NC) candidate Ram Chandra Paudel as prime minister or scrap his candidacy with a majority vote.
The NC has also stated that Paudel will withdraw his candidacy if a majority of lawmakers vote against him.
With the Maoists and the UML deciding to vote against Paudel, it is almost certain that a majority of votes will be cast against Paudel.
Coming out of the meeting, Maoist Vice-chairman Narayankaji Shrestha said that his party was of the view that the legitimacy of Paudel´s candidacy was already over and the parliament would begin a new prime ministerial election process.
“But the speaker has announced a vote for Tuesday. We are yet to discuss and chart out our course. And it is our declared policy to vote against Paudel,” said Shrestha who is also the Maoist deputy leader in the parliament.
Similarly, UML Chairman Jhalanath Khanal said that it would be better for Poudel to withdraw his candidacy before Tuesday voting.
“We are almost certain that Poudel will withdraw his candidacy by Tuesday,” said UML Chairman Jhalanath Khanal after the House meeting Sunday. He said the lawmakers from his party would cast votes against Paudel if the latter doesn´t withdraw his candidacy.
My candidacy for peace and constitution: Paudel
After the House meeting Sunday, NC´s prime ministerial candidate Paudel said he would withdraw his candidacy if the conclusion of the peace process and constitution drafting is ensured. “My candidacy is related to the peace process and constitution drafting,” Paudel said. He said that the issues would be discussed during a three-party meeting on Monday and during talks with the speaker. But he ruled out the possibility of candidacy withdrawal. “I may even get elected. If a majority vote is cast against my candidacy, I will decide accordingly,” he said.
Speaker concerned over absenteeism
During the meeting, Nembang drew the attention of the political parties about their skipping of the House meeting without notice. “Some 200 lawmakers are absent in the meeting. So I draw the attention of the parties about their absence,” Nembang said. In the last special session, Nembang had asked the lawmakers to notify him in advance if they could not attend the meeting.
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