Nepal to get new president next week

Having elected a new prime minister last Sunday, Nepal prepares to pick a new president next week, an official here said.

The country's parliament will, at its meeting on October 24, commence the process for the election of the new president and the vice president, Xinhua quoted an official of the Parliament Secretariat as saying on Sunday.

As per Article 297 of Nepal's Constitution 2015, the election of heads of the country's constitutional bodies should be held within a month of commencement of the parliamentary session.

The first house session was held on October 2 after the promulgation of the new constitution on September 20, which means the country should get a new president by the end of October.

The presidential candidate needs a minimum of 299 votes to win the race in the 598-member house. The newly elected president shall succeed Dr. Ram Baran Yadav who was picked on July 23, 2008 as the first president of the country after the abolition of the monarchy.

The Nepali parliament elected K.P. Sharma Oli of the Communist Party of Nepal (Unified Marxist-Leninst) as prime minister on October 11 and Onsari Gharti Magar as Speaker on October 16 -- the first woman to grace the office in the Himalayan nation.