2,047 to cast vote in National Assembly election

KATHMANDU: The Election Commission (EC) has approved the voter list for the upcoming National Assembly election scheduled for January 25.

According to the EC, 2,047 people’s representatives from seven provinces will cast their votes in the election. They include 549 provincial assembly members and 1,498 mayors/chairpersons and deputy mayors/vice chairpersons of local units.

As per the existing constitutional provision, provincial assembly members of all seven provinces, mayors and deputy mayors of municipalities, as well as chairpersons and vice chairpersons of rural municipalities, cast their votes to select the National Assembly members.

Twenty seats in the upper house, including one to be recommended by the President, are becoming vacant on March 4. The National Assembly consists of 59 members, with eight members elected from each of the seven provinces and three appointed by the President on the recommendation of the Council of Ministers.

Members are elected by an electoral college comprising the mayor/chairperson and deputy mayor/vice chairperson of municipal bodies across the country. Provincial assembly members carry a vote weight of 53, while officials of local units have a vote weight of 19.