The fourth presidential election of Nepal, to elect the country's third president since the abolition of the monarchy, was held on 9 March 2023.
The term of the incumbent president, Bidya Devi Bhandari, first elected in 2015, was set to expire on 13 March 2023. She was term-limited and could not seek re-election, with the Constitution of Nepal barring her from doing so.
Electoral process The 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 president.
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 presidential elections on 30 January 2023. +Presidential election schedule22 FebruaryPublication of initial electoral roll22 – 24 FebruaryClaims and scrutiny on electoral roll24 FebruaryPublication of final electoral roll25 FebruaryNomination of candidates26 – 28 FebruaryScrutiny on nominations28 FebruaryPublication of final list of nominations9 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 24 February 2023, Ram Chandra Paudel of the Nepali Congress was chosen as the common candidate of an alliance of eight political parties; Congress, CPN (Maoist Centre), CPN (Unified Socialist), PSPN, Janamat, LSPN, NUP and RJM. The next day, the CPN (UML) announced that it would field party vice-chair Subas Chandra Nemwang as its presidential candidate.
Nepali Congress CandidateBornPositions heldProvinceAnnouncedRefRam Chandra PaudelTanahun, Gandaki Speaker of the House of Representatives (1994–1999) Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Home Affairs (2000–2002) Member of the House of Representatives from Tanahun (1991–1999; 2022–present) Member of the Legislature Parliament of Nepal (2015–2017) Member of the Constituent Assembly of Nepal from Tanahun 2 (2008–2015)Gandaki25 February 2023
Communist Party of Nepal (Unified Marxist–Leninist) CandidateBornPositions heldProvinceAnnouncedRefSubas Chandra NemwangIlam, Koshi Chairman of the Constituent Assembly of Nepal (2008–2015) Speaker of the Interim Legislature of Nepal (2006–2008) State Minister for Law, Justice & Parliamentary Affairs (1994–1995) Member of the House of Representatives from Ilam 2 (1999–2002; 2006–2008; 2017–present) Member of the Legislature Parliament of Nepal (2015–2017) Member of the Constituent Assembly of Nepal (2008–2015) Member of the National Assembly (1991–1993; 1995–1999)Koshi25 February 2023
Results +Results. Candidate Party Votes Totalvotes %FederalProvincialTotal Ram Chandra Paudel NC214352566 68.54 Subas Chandra Nemwang CPN (UML)98162260 31.46 Valid votes312514826 99.40 Blank and invalid votes145 0.60 Total313518831 100 Electors / turnout 331 550 881 94.32
See also 2023 Nepalese vice presidential election
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