Vice President Nanda Bahadur Pun is set to be re-elected as his candidacy remains unchallenged.

The Election Commission said it would announce the results on Sunday after completing the process including complaint registration against the candidate and looking into them.

The governing alliance of the CPN-UML and the CPN (Maoist Centre) decided to repeat Pun for the job. Pun filed his candidacy on Saturday. The EC had set 10am to 2pm for nomination.

UML leaders Subas Nembang, Bhanu Bhakta Dhakal and Parsuram Meghi Gurung and Maoist Centre leaders Pampha Bhusal and Rekha Sharma had proposed Pun as the vice-presidential candidate.

Maoist Centre leaders Dev Gurung, Onasari Gharti, Jayapuri Gharti, Ram Narayan Bidari and UML leader Rajendra Prasad Gautam supported the proposal. President Bidya Devi Bhandari was elected for a second term on March 13. The main opposition Nepali Congress, which had fielded Kumari Laxmi Rai against her, did not challenge Pun’s candidacy.

NC leader Min Bahadur Bishwakarma said the party did not challenge Pun’s bid to express its wish that he would perform his duties impartially. “We had challenged President Bhandari’s candidacy as a symbol of protest because she failed to be impartial in many of her decisions,” he said.

Pun was first elected the VP on October 31, 2015, after the country adopted its new 

constitution in September 2015. His second term will be of five years.

Dahal, Ale vie for NA vice-chair

KATHMANDU: CPN (Maoist Centre) lawmaker Sashikala Dahal and 

Nepali Congress leader Binda Devi Ale are vying for the post of National Assembly vice-chair. 

Maoist Centre leader Dinanath Sharma proposed Dahal’s nomination while CPN-UML leader Dil Kumari Rawal seconded the candidacy. Along with the two parties in the left alliance, regional parties Sanghiya Samajbadi Forum-Nepal and the Rastriya Janata Party-Nepal also support her. 

Though Ale—proposed by Badri Prasad Pandey and seconded by party leader Sarita Prasain—is challenging Dahal, hers is an open secret as she has the support of only her party that has 13 seats in the Upper House.

According to Bharat Raj Gautam, spokesperson for the Parliament Secretariat, voting for the position will be held on Sunday. 

In the 59-member NA, the UML and the Maoist Centre have 39 seats. While the Nepali Congress has 13 members, the SSF-N and the RJP-N have two seats each. The three nominated members will not participate in the vote. (PR)