KATHMANDU: Voting to elect the new leadership of the CPN-UML is scheduled to take place on Tuesday, with the polling time postponed until 4 pm due to delays in finalizing the list of candidates.
The party is conducting the election through electronic voting machines. According to the UML Central Election Commission, additional time was required to upload candidates’ names and photographs into the electronic system, prompting the postponement of voting from the earlier scheduled time of 1 pm to 4 pm.
The Commission has stated that election results are expected to be made public within one to two hours after the completion of voting.
The contest for the new leadership has intensified as incumbent chairman KP Sharma Oli and senior vice-chairman Ishwar Pokharel are facing each other with separate panels. Due to delays in finalizing the candidate list, technicians responsible for preparing the voting machines received the final list only at around 1 am on Tuesday.
The responsibility of conducting electronic voting at the UML general convention has been entrusted to Ballot Solution, operating under Ramlaxman Innovation.
According to the preliminary list published by the Election Commission, Oli and Pokharel are directly competing for the post of chairman with their respective panels. UML Election Commission Chair Dr Bijay Subba said 80 electronic voting machines will be used for the election.
He added that it is estimated to take around 25 to 30 minutes for a single voter to cast votes due to the large number of candidates. A total of 2,263 representatives are participating in the general convention.
As per the published list, incumbent chairman KP Sharma Oli and senior vice-chairman Ishwar Pokharel have filed their candidacies for the chairmanship. Candidates have also been registered from their respective panels as well as independently for other office-bearer positions and central committee membership.
Under the party’s amended statute, there are five vice-chairperson posts, for which 11 candidates have filed nominations. They include Arun Nepal, Guru Prasad Baral, Gokarna Raj Bista, Parshuram Meghi Gurung, Prithvi Subba Gurung, Bhim Prasad Acharya, Raghuji Pant, Ram Bahadur Thapa ‘Badal’, Dr Binda Pandey, and Bishnu Prasad Paudel.
For the post of General Secretary, Shankar Pokharel and Surendra Prasad Pandey are in the race.
Similarly, six candidates, Anand Prasad Pokharel, Yogesh Bhattarai, Raghuvir Mahaseth, Rajendra Prasad Gautam, Lekhraj Bhatta, and Bishnu Prasad Rimal, have registered nominations for the three Deputy General Secretary posts.
For the nine Secretary positions, 20 candidates are contesting. Additionally, more than 1,000 candidates have filed nominations for central committee membership from various geographical areas and sectors.
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