The election to elect the third vice president of Nepal was held on 17 March 2023.
The term of the incumbent vice president, Nanda Kishor Pun, first elected in 2015, was set to expire on 17 March 2023. He was term-limited and could not seek re-election, with the Constitution of Nepal barring him from doing so.
As Article 70 of the Constitution prohibits the vice president of being from the same sex and community as the president, and with Ram Chandra Poudel, a Khas Arya male, elected president, only candidates who were from non Khas Arya ethnicity or female were allowed to file their nominations for the election.
Electoral process The Vice President of Nepal is elected by the majority of the votes of all members of the electoral colleges. If no candidate is elected, a second round is held between the top two candidates of the first round, under the same majority. As the latter is of the total votes including blank and invalid ones as well as abstentions, it is possible no candidate is elected in the first and second rounds. A third may then be held with the same candidates as in the second. The candidate with the majority of valid votes is then elected vice president.Constitution
Part 6, Article 64 of the Constitution of Nepal 2015 sets the following qualifications for holding the presidency: A person shall be eligible to be president if he/she fulfils the following qualifications: He/she is eligible to be a member of the Federal Parliament. He/she has attained at least 45 years of age, and Is not ineligible by any law. Notwithstanding anything contained in clause (1), a person who has already been elected president for two terms, shall not be eligible to be a presidential candidate for the presidential election thereafter.
Election schedule The Election Commission announced the schedule for the vice presidential elections on 30 January 2023.
+Vice-presidential election schedule22 FebruaryPublication of initial electoral roll22 – 24 FebruaryClaims and scrutiny on electoral roll24 FebruaryPublication of final electoral roll9 MarchPresidential election11 MarchNomination of candidates11 – 12 MarchScrutiny on nominations12 MarchPublication of final list of nominations17 MarchDate of election
Electoral college The electoral college is composed in 2023 of 881 members, of which 331 are from the federal parliament and 550 from the provincial assemblies, with a vote "weight" of 79 and 48 each, respectively. While the federal parliament is made of 275 members from the lower house and 59 from the upper one, 2 members of the lower house were unable to be registered in the electoral college because of a judicial affair and a third one died, thus lowering the electoral college total from the normal number of 884 to 881, and the grand total of weighted votes from 52,786 to 52,549...
Electoral college composition +CompositionPartyPratinidhi SabhaRastriya SabhaPradesh SabhaTotal electorsNepali Congress8810175273CPN (UML)7918162259CPN (Maoist Centre)311685132CPN (Unified Socialist)1082543Rastriya Prajatantra Party1402842People's Socialist Party1132337Janamat Party601622Rastriya Swatantra Party190019Loktantrik Samajwadi Party411217Nagarik Unmukti Party401216Nepal Majdoor Kisan Party1034Rastriya Janamorcha1113Nepal Socialist Party1023Hamro Nepali Party0022Independent3249Total27259550881
Electoral college vote value composition PartyPratinidhi SabhaRastriya SabhaPradesh SabhaTotal votesPercentageNepali Congress6,9527908,40016,14230.72CPN (UML)6,2411,4227,77615,43929.38CPN (Maoist Centre)2,4491,2644,0807,79314.83CPN (Unified Socialist)7906321,2002,6224.99Rastriya Prajatantra Party1,10601,3442,4504.66People's Socialist Party8692371,1042,2104.21Rastriya Swatantra Party1501001,5012.86Janamat Party47407681,2422.36Loktantrik Samajwadi Party316795769711.85Nagarik Unmukti Party31605768921.70Nepal Majdoor Kisan Party7901442230.42Rastriya Janamorcha7979482060.39Nepal Socialist Party790961750.33Hamro Nepali Party0096960.18Independent2371581925871.12Total21,4884,66126,40052,549100
Candidates On 11 March, a total of four candidates filed their nominations for the vice-presidential election. Three candidacies were filed from the ruling eight-party alliance; Ram Sahaya Yadav and Pramila Yadav of the PSPN and Mamata Jha of the Janamat Party. The opposition CPN (UML) put forward party vice-chair, Astalaxmi Shakya as its vice-presidential candidate.
Complaints were lodged against the candidacy of Ram Sahaya Yadav, by both the CPN (UML) and Janamat Party candidates, claiming the candidacy by Yadav is against the constitutional and legal provisions, as the constitution calls for the president and vice president to be of different genders or community. The electoral commission had initially announced that it was interpreting this as meaning vice president candidates had to be of both different gender and different community, prompting the PSPN to also propose the candidacy of Pramila Yadav. However, the Election Commission eventually changed opinion and quashed the complaints, ruling that Yadav's candidacy was lawful by concluding that legal provisions only require the president and the vice president to be from a different gender or a different community. Following this, the PSPN decided to withdraw the candidacy of Pramila Yadav.
People's Socialist Party, Nepal CandidateBornPositions heldProvinceAnnouncedRefRam Sahaya YadavBara, Madhesh Minister for Forests and Environment (2021–2022) Member of House of Representatives from Bara (2018–present) Member of the Constituent Assembly of Nepal from party list (2008–2012)Madhesh9 March 2023
Communist Party of Nepal (Unified Marxist–Leninist) CandidateBornPositions heldProvinceAnnouncedRef Astalaxmi ShakyaKathmandu, Bagmati Chief Minister of Bagmati Province (2021) Minister for Industry (2008–2009) Minister for Women, Children and Social Welfare (2004–2005) Member of the House of Representatives (1999–2008) Member of the Bagmati Provincial Assembly (2018–2022)Bagmati11 March 2023
Janamat Party CandidateBornPositions heldProvinceAnnouncedRef Mamata JhaMadheshN/AMadhesh 11 March 2023
Results +Results. Candidate Party Votes Totalvotes %FederalProvincialTotal Ram Sahaya Yadav PSP-N18432951330,32861.59 Asta Laxmi Shakya CPN (UML)10416927316,328 33.16 Mamata Jha Janamat2315382,5375.15 Pramila Yadav (withdrawn) PSP-N011480.10 Valid votes31151482549,24199.52 Blank and invalid votes0441920.48 Total31151882949,433100 Registered voters / turnout 331 550 881 52,549 94.10
See also 2023 Nepalese presidential election
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