Voting begins for leadership selection at UML’s 11th General Convention

Kathmandu – At the 11th General Convention of the Communist Party of Nepal  (Unified Marxist Leninist), the voting process to select the new leadership has formally begun.

The two candidates for the chairperson post, KP Sharma Oli and Ishwar Pokharel, cast the first votes, marking the start of the election. Although voting began at 9:30 a.m., somewhat later than the scheduled time, there is currently an enthusiastic turnout of leaders and cadres with long queues at the polling centers.

Due to delays and technical preparations, although voting had originally been scheduled for Tuesday, the election process was postponed to today for some technical reasons.

Last evening, representatives who were waiting to vote were informed at 8 p.m. that voting would be held today. This morning as well, voting started about one and a half hours later than the designated time of 8 a.m.

In the electoral race and atmosphere at this convention, the incumbent Chairperson KP Sharma Oli and Senior Vice-Chair Ishwar Pokharel are competing for the chairperson position.

A total of 2,263 representatives selected from across the country will exercise their voting rights for positions from chairperson to central committee members. Since both leaders are contesting with their respective panels, the area around the polling centers has become quite heated with supporters’ slogans and election campaigning.

After voting, preparations for vote counting will begin immediately upon completion, and the party aims to announce the results quickly.