Nepal Parliament Secretariat to release names of PM candidates today

The secretariat of the Nepal Parliament has announced that it will publish the names of all candidates contesting for the post of Prime Minister at 4.30 pm on Saturday. 

With the possibility of a consensus being reached to form the next government picking up pace, members of parliament, are set to vote for new prime minister on Sunday. CPN-UML chairman KP Sharma Oli is emerging as a front runner for the post. Although Nepal Congress has declared Sushil Koirala's name as their PM candidate.

The deadline for the withdrawal of nominations has been set for 11 am on Sunday, following which the voting process shall commence. Parliament General Secretary Manohar Bhattarai will be the election officer in charge of the voting process.

Nepal's President, Ram Baran Yadav, has issued an appeal for installing a majority government as per Article 298 (3) of the Constitution of Nepal. The UML with 183, the UPCN Maoist with 83, the RPP Nepal with 25, the CPN ML with 5 and the RPP with 12 seats are the major parties who will play major role in electing next prime minister of Nepal.

Two hundred and ninety nine votes are required to elect the prime minister by a majority. In all, 598 Constituent Assembly members will vote on Sunday.