NEPAL: MINOR MADHESI LEADER IS FAVORITE TO BECOME

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 02 KATHMANDU 000808 SIPDIS E.O. 12958: DECL: 07/17/2018 TAGS: PGOV PHUM PINR NP SUBJECT: NEPAL: MINOR MADHESI LEADER IS FAVORITE TO BECOME PRESIDENT REF: KATHMANDU 697 Classified By: Charge d'Affaires Randy W. Berry. Reasons 1.4 (b/d) Parties Nominate Presidential Candidates -------------- ¶1. (U) In keeping with regulations adopted by Nepal's Constituent Assembly (CA) on July 15, the parties nominated their candidates to become the country's first President and Vice President on July 17. By the 1 p.m. (local time) deadline, the nominees (all by the four largest parties) were: -- Communist Party of Nepal (Maoist) (CPN-M) President: Mr. Ram Raja Prasad Singh Vice President: Ms. Shanta Shrestha -- Nepali Congress (NC) President: Mr. Ram Baran Yadav Vice President: Mr. Man Bahadur Bishwokarma -- Communist Party of Nepal (United Marxist Leninist) (UML) President: Mr. Ramprit Paswan Vice President: Ms. Asta Laxmi Shakya -- Madhesi People's Rights Forum (MPRF) President: No candidate Vice President: Paramananda Jha Candidates may withdraw prior to 4:30 p.m. The list is to be finalized at 5:00 p.m. The election itself is scheduled for 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. on July 19. The result is due by 5 p.m. Biographical Information -------------- ¶2. (SBU) CPN-M -- Ram Raja Prasad Singh, a Madhesi, is a veteran republican leader, and the President of the tiny, left-wing New People's Front. He was the main architect of the 1985 Kathmandu bombings in which at least two people died. -- Shanta Shrestha, a Newar, was a Maoist member of the Interim Parliament and is a former Radio Nepal employee. A women's activist and member of the Maoist women's wing, she was arrested in 2003 by the security forces. NC -- Ram Baran Yadav, a Madhesi, is the General Secretary of the Nepali Congress, and the most senior NC Madhesi leader. Yadav, who is a medical doctor, won a CA seat from Dhanusa, in the central Terai. -- Man Bahadur Bishwokarma, a Dalit, is an NC Central Committee member, and was the State Minister for Environment, Science and Technology from 2006-2007, and was a math lecturer. UML -- Ramprit Paswan, a Dalit, was elected in 2001 to be the Vice Chairman of the National Assembly (the old upper house of Parliament). He was a member of the Interim Parliament and is a senior UML Dalit leader. -- Asta Laxmi Shakya, a Newar, is a UML Central Committee member. She was elected in 1999 to the House of Representatives (the old lower house of Parliament) and served in the Interim Parliament. She is married to Amrit Bohara, who is the third-ranking leader in UML. Shakya contested a CA seat from Kathmandu but lost. KATHMANDU 00000808 002 OF 002 MPRF -- Parmanananda Jha, a Madhesi, is a former Supreme Court Justice, who resigned after being demoted for a faulty decision in a drug case in 2006. He is currently in charge of the MPRF's legal department. Comment -------------- ¶3. (C) The stalemate over selection of Nepal's first President looks to be coming to a conclusion. The launch of a competitive race for the Presidency (and Vice Presidency) signals the end of the Maoists' extended effort to persuade the Nepali Congress and, more aggressively, the UML to abandon their support for Prime Minister Koirala and former UML General Secretary M.K. Nepal, respectively. The result is that the Maoists have returned to the candidate they mooted first, Ram Raja Prasad Singh, the elderly head of a Madhesi party that contested the Constituent Assembly election but won no seats. Singh is best known for a deadly, pro-republican bombing campaign in 1985. It is noteworthy that none of the candidates are hill Brahmins, Nepal's traditionally dominant caste group. As the presidential candidate of the Assembly's largest party, Singh is the presumptive favorite. The three major Madhesi parties have indicated in the past that they would support him as a Madhesi. With their support (82 MPs),that of the Maoists (226 MPs) and that of the Maoist-allied People's Front Nepal (9 MPs),he should have more than the simple majority required in the 601-member Assembly -- barring any surprises. BERRY