Nepal prepares to elect new prime minister Feb 10

Nepal is preparing to elect its new prime minister Monday from the Constituent Assembly (CA) elected Nov 19 last year.

The Constituent Assembly, which is also serving as the country's parliament, will conduct voting in the current 575-member house. The parliament secretariat Wednesday evening unveiled the details for holding the election, Xinhua reported.

According to the notice issued by the secretariat, candidates will have to register their names Feb 8 and 9. The final list of candidates will be made public Feb 9 evening and election will take place on Feb 10.

Earlier, President Ram Baran Yadav wrote a letter to the secretariat Feb 3 initiating the process of electing a prime minister according to Article 38 (2) of the Interim Constitution 2007.

The president made the request after the parties failed to form a unity government according to Article 38 (1) of the Interim Constitution within the Feb 2 deadline.

Sushil Koirala, Nepali Congress president and parliamentary party leader, is the lone leader to have announced his candidacy for the prime ministerial race.