2022 Kathmandu municipal election explained

Election Name:2022 Kathmandu municipal elections
Country:Kathmandu
Type:Parliamentary
Ongoing:no
Party Colour:yes
Previous Election:2017 Kathmandu municipal election
Previous Year:2017
Next Election:2027 Kathmandu municipal elections
Next Year:2027
Seats For Election:162 seats to Kathmandu Metropolitan City Council
Majority Seats:82
Election Date:13 May 2022
Turnout:63.68% (9.04 pp)
Image1:File:Balen Shah - Mayor of Kathmandu.png
Leader1:Balendra Shah
Party1:Independent politician
Leader2:Sirjana Singh
Party2:Nepali Congress
Image3:File:Keshab Sthapit by Mahalaxmi-cropped.png
Leader3:Keshav Sthapit
Party3:Communist Party of Nepal (Unified Marxist-Leninist)
Map Size:250px
Mayor
Posttitle:Elected Mayor
Before Election:Bidya Sundar Shakya
Before Party:Communist Party of Nepal (Unified Marxist-Leninist)
After Election:Balendra Shah
After Party:Independent politician

Municipal election for Kathmandu took place on 13 May 2022, with all 162 positions up for election across 32 wards.[1] [2] The electorate elected a mayor, a deputy mayor, 32 ward chairs and 128 ward members. An indirect election will also be held to elect five female members and an additional three female members from the Dalit and minority community to the municipal executive.[3] [4]

Background

Kathmandu was established as a municipality in 1919.[5] After the formulation of the 1951 Municipality Act, the first municipal elections were held in Nepal and Janakman Shrestha became the first elected mayor of Kathmandu. The municipality was declared as a metropolitan city in 1995 by then mayor Prem Lal Singh. Keshav Sthapit was the first elected mayor of Kathmandu after it had been declared as a metropolitan city.[6] Electors in each ward elect a ward chair and four ward members, out of which two must be female and one of the two must belong to the Dalit community.[7]

In the previous election, Bidhya Sundar Shakya from CPN (Unified Marxist–Leninist) was elected mayor.[8]

Candidates

CPN (Unified Marxist–Leninist)

The incumbent mayor Bidhya Sundar Shakya, announced in February 2022 that he would want to run for re-election if the party wanted him to.[9] But on April 24 the party announced that it would field former mayor Keshav Sthapit as its candidate.[10] Sthapit was first elected mayor in 1997 and was appointed mayor again in 2005 by then King Gyanendra. He was later also appointed as the commissioner of Kathmandu Valley Development Authority by Prime Minister Baburam Bhattarai, but was removed after only nine months.[11] Sthapit was a member of the provincial assembly of Bagmati Province and previously served in the cabinet of Chief Minister Dormani Paudel but resigned to file his candidacy.[12]

Sunita Dangol, a Newa heritage activist and former Miss Newa who had previously announced her intention to run as mayor as an independent was announced as the deputy mayor candidate from the party.

Nepali Congress

The Nepali Congress, CPN (Maoist Centre), CPN (Unified Socialist), People's Socialist Party, Nepal and Rastriya Janamorcha announced that they would jointly contest the local elections in some local units in the country.

Sirjana Singh of Nepali Congress was announced as the candidate of the alliance on April 25.[13] She is the wife of former deputy Prime Minister and MP Prakash Man Singh. She is also a former chairperson of Nepal Woman Association.

Rameshwar Shrestha from the CPN (Unified Socialist) was announced as the candidate of deputy mayor from the alliance.[14]

Balendra Shah

Rapper and structural engineer Balendra Shah announced his candidacy as an independent on 17 December 2021.[15]

Other parties and candidates

PartyMayor candidateNotesDeputy Mayor candidateNotes
Rastriya Prajatantra PartyMadan Das ShresthaActor[16] Binita Magaiya
Bibeksheel Sajha PartySamikshya BaskotaAdvocate and CEO of Baskota Group.[17] Kirti TuladharFormer Chairperson of JCI Nepal
IndependentSuman SayamiSocial ActivistBidya Shrestha MaharjanSocial Activist & Teacher

Results

Ward results

|-! colspan="2" style="text-align:centre;" | Party! Chairperson! Members|-| bgcolor="" || style="text-align:left;" |Nepali Congress| style="text-align:center;" |19| style="text-align:center;" |74|-| bgcolor="" || style="text-align:left;" |CPN (Unified Marxist-Leninist)| style="text-align:center;" |12| style="text-align:center;" |48|-| bgcolor="" || style="text-align:left;" |CPN (Unified Socialist)| style="text-align:center;" | 1| style="text-align:center;" | 4|-! colspan="2" style="text-align:right;" | Total! 32! 126|}

Summary of results by ward

Ward #Ward ChairmanPartyWard
OpenOpen 2FemaleFemale Dalit
1
Bharat Lal ShresthaUML
NC
NC
UML
NC
2
Rajendra Kumar ShresthaUML
UML
UML
UML
UML
3
Prem ThapaUML
UML
UML
UML
UML
4
Dinesh MaharjanUML
UML
UML
UML
UML
5
Birendra PrajapatiUML
NC
UML
NC
UML
6
Bhuwan LamaNC
NC
NC
NC
NC
7
Bimal Kumar HodaNC
NC
NC
NC
NC
8
Asaman SangatNC
NC
NC
NC
NC
9
Ramji BhandariNC
UML
UML
UML
UML
10
Ram Kumar KCNC
NC
NC
NC
NC
11
Hira Lal TandukarNC
NC
NC
NC
NC
12
Bal Krishna MaharjanNC
NC
NC
NC
NC
13
Dhurba Narayan ManandharUML
UML
UML
UML
UML
14
Suman ShresthaNC
NC
UML
UML
NC
15
Ishwor Man DangolUS
US
US
US
US
16
Mukunda RijalNC
UML
UML
UML
UML
17
Nabin ManandharNC
NC
NC
NC
NC
18
Nhuchhe Kaji MaharjanUML
UML
UML
UML
UML
19Rajesh Kumar ShresthaNCNCNCNCNC
20
Rajendra ManandharNC
NC
NC
NC
NC
21
Udaya Chudamani BajracharyaUML
UML
UML
UML
UML
22
Chini Kaji MaharjanUML
NC
NC
NC
UML
23
Macha Raja MaharjanUML
NC
NC
UML
NC
24
Binod Kumar RajbhandariNC
UML
NC
NCVacant
25
Rajesh DangolNC
NC
NC
NCVacant
26
Khyam Raj TiwariNC
NC
NC
NC
NC
27
Yogesh Kumar KhadgiNC
NC
NC
NC
UML
28
Bhai Ram Khadki PrakashNC
NC
NC
NC
NC
29
Kush DhakalNC
NC
NC
NC
NC
30
Dal Bahadur KarkiNC
NC
NC
NC
NC
31
Saroj DhakalUML
NC
UML
UML
UML
32
Navraj ParajuliUML
UML
UML
UML
UML

Note: 4 candidates (1 from Nepali Congress and 3 from CPN-UML) for Ward Members were elected unopposed under Dalit woman reserved seats. 2 Ward Member seats reserved for Dalit women were left unfilled due to lack of candidates

Results for municipal executive election

The municipal executive consists of the mayor, who is also the chair of the municipal executive, the deputy mayor and ward chairs from each ward. The members of the municipal assembly elected five female members and three members from the Dalit or minority community to the municipal executive using single non-transferable vote.[20]

Municipal Assembly composition

PartyMembers

Nepali Congress93

CPN (Unified Marxist–Leninist)61

CPN (Unified Socialist)5

Independent1
Vacant2
Total162

Results

CategoryCandidate[21] [22] PartyVotes
Female MemberMina Sunar
Nepali Congress99
Mina Singh99
Kanchana Nepali Harijan97
Lalita Khadgi97
Maiya Laxmi Maharjan
CPN (Unified Socialist)99
Sharmila Pariyar
CPN (Unified Marxist–Leninist)61
Sharada Subedi61
Shobha Karki61
Hira Devi Pokharel60
Herashobha Dangol59
Dalit/Minority MemberBinod Achhami
Nepali Congress98
Mahesh Nepali97
Anita Karki Dholi
CPN (Maoist Centre)95
Keshav Bhujel
CPN (Unified Marxist–Leninist)61
Chandrakala Sundas61
Prem Pode Parajuli62

Municipal Executive composition

PartyMembers+/–

Nepali Congress25 10

CPN (Unified Marxist–Leninist)13 14

CPN (Unified Socialist)2New

CPN (Maoist Centre)1 1

Independent1 1
Total420

See also

Notes and References

  1. 215(6). Nepal. Nepali. September 20, 2015. [<!--]. April 15, 2017-->.
  2. Web site: Government announces local level elections for May 13 . 2022-05-23 . kathmandupost.com . English.
  3. 216(4). Nepal. Nepali. September 20, 2015. [<!--]. May 22, 2022-->.
  4. Web site: hi:यसरी चुनिँदै छन् स्थानीय प्रतिनिधि, कार्यपालिकाभन्दा व्यवस्थापिका ठूलो . http://setopati.com/chapa-bata/65858/ . 2 June 2017 . Setopati.
  5. Web site: PROFILE OF KATHMANDU METROPOLTIAN CITY . 2022-05-23 . www.catmando.com.
  6. Web site: Kathmandu city . 2022-05-23 . kathmandupost.com . English.
  7. 223(2). Nepal. Nepali. September 20, 2015. [<!--]. May 22, 2022-->.
  8. Web site: CPN-UML’s Bidya Sundar Shakya elected Kathmandu Metro City mayor . 2022-05-23 . kathmandupost.com . English.
  9. Web site: Republica . I will run for mayorship again if the party wants me to: KMC Mayor Shakya . 2022-05-19 . My Republica . en.
  10. News: 2022-04-24 . UML to field Keshav Sthapit for KMC Mayorship . 2022-05-19 . My Republica . en.
  11. Web site: नेपाल कानून पत्रिका . 2022-04-25 . nkp.gov.np.
  12. Web site: Republica . Keshav Sthapit sacked from Cabinet of Province 3 . 2022-04-25 . My Republica . en.
  13. Web site: NC fields Srijana Singh as mayor of Kathmandu metropolis . 2022-05-19 . Khabarhub . en.
  14. Web site: Republica . CPN (Unified Socialist) picks Dhanraj Acharya as mayoral candidate for Pokhara metropolis . 2022-05-19 . My Republica . en.
  15. Web site: Republica . Rapper Balen Shah announces to contest for Mayor of Kathmandu . 2022-05-19 . My Republica . en.
  16. Web site: What's enticing some central and provincial leaders into local politics . 2022-05-19 . kathmandupost.com . English.
  17. Web site: ne:विवेकशील साझाले काठमाडौंको मेयरमा बास्कोटा र उपमेयरमा तुलाधरलाई उठाउने . https://ekantipur.com/news/2022/04/11/164965839142833608.html . 2022-04-23 . ekantipur.com . ne.
  18. Web site: Setopati . सेतोपाटी टिम . काठमाडौंको भित्री नेवार बस्तीमा केशव स्थापित, सिर्जना सिंह र बालेन्द्र साहमध्ये को बलियो? . 2022-05-10 . Setopati . en-US.
  19. Web site: Setopati . सेतोपाटी टिम . सेतोपाटी प्रक्षेपण: बालेन शाह चुनिने छन् काठमाडौंका मेयर . 2022-05-13 . Setopati . en-US.
  20. 216. Nepal. Nepali. September 20, 2015. [<!--]. May 22, 2022-->.
  21. Web site: 2022-06-08 . प्रमुख शाहबाट कार्यपालिका सदस्यहरुलाई पद तथा गोपनीयताको शपथ . 2022-06-11 . Metro News . ne.
  22. Web site: 2022-06-07 . कार्यपालिका निर्वाचन परिणाम घोषणा : कार्यपालिका सदस्य संख्या ४२ . 2022-06-11 . Metro News . ne.