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Prime Minister Sushila Karki, and top guns of three major political parties jointly called on President Ram Chandra Paudel today.

PM Karki, Nepali Congress President Sher Bahadur Deuba, CPN-UML Chairman KP Sharma Oli and Nepali Communist Party Coordinator Pushpa Kamal Dahal are holding the meeting with the Head of the State, according to the President's secretariat.

It is the first time that the top leaders and PM Karki held a joint meeting with the President after the September 8-9 Gen Z movement.

They are discussing the current political situation including the March 5 election.

Chinese Ambassador to Nepal Chen Song paid a farewell call on President Ram Chandra Paudel today.

During the meeting held at Sheetal Niwas, they discussed the matters of Nepal-China relations and mutual welfare and interest, according to the Office of the President. 

President Paudel thanked Ambassador Chen for successfully completing his term.

Any individual receiving wages from the institutions run under the grants of federal, province and local governments shall be ineligible if s/he is named as a candidate in the closed list of the political parties under the proportional representation (PR) electoral system in the forthcoming House of Representatives (HoR) elections scheduled for March 5.

As per the House of Representatives Member Election (First Amendment) Guidelines-2082, anyone charged with corruption, rape, human trafficking and smuggling, drug smuggling, money laundering, passport misuse and abduction will also be declared ineligible to become candidates in the poll. Likewise, the candidacy of those individuals sentenced on different charges shall be termed invalid if two years have not passed after the sentence, the new amendment to the election laws stated.

Furthermore, the candidacy shall be terminated if the individuals named in the closed list of the political parties were convicted of criminal offenses or if they have been sentenced to life imprisonment or imprisonment for 20 years, and the verdict was final.

As Nepal prepares for its March 5 parliamentary elections, both the United States and China have recalled their ambassadors from Kathmandu. 

Chinese Ambassador Chen Song is returning to Beijing this week, marking the end of his tenure as China’s 22nd ambassador to Nepal. Chen assumed office on January 8, 2023, during a period of active engagement between Kathmandu and Beijing, particularly in areas of infrastructure development, connectivity, and political cooperation.

Before his departure, Ambassador Chen paid courtesy calls on Prime Minister Sushila Karkiand other senior government officials. The Chinese Embassy in Kathmandu hosted a farewell reception on Sunday, December 21, in his honor.

In his farewell remarks, Ambassador Chen said he had developed a deep emotional connection with Nepal and its people during his posting. “Before I came to Nepal, I was a supporter of China–Nepal relations. Three years later, I can proudly say that I have become a lifelong friend of the Nepalese and Chinese people,” he said.

Meanwhile, the United States has also recalled its ambassador to Nepal, as part of a broader reshuffling of U.S. diplomatic personnel under President Donald Trump’s “America First” policy framework. According to the Associated Press, nearly 30 career diplomats have been recalled from ambassadorial and senior embassy posts worldwide as Washington seeks to realign its diplomatic corps with the administration’s priorities.

Africa has been the most affected region, with ambassadors recalled from 13 countries, including Nigeria, Rwanda, Senegal, Somalia, and Uganda, according to Politico. The Asia-Pacific region follows, with diplomatic changes affecting six countries: Fiji, Laos, the Marshall Islands, Papua New Guinea, the Philippines, and Vietnam. Additional recalls have taken place in Europe, the Middle East, South Asia, and the Western Hemisphere.

In South Asia, both Nepal and Sri Lanka are among the countries affected by the U.S. diplomatic changes. The U.S. Ambassador to Nepal, Ambassador Thompson, arrived in Kathmandu in 2022. Prior to his posting, he served as Acting Assistant Secretary and Principal Deputy Assistant Secretary in the Bureau of South and Central Asian Affairs, where he oversaw U.S. policy toward the region. A member of the Senior Foreign Service, he has more than 25 years of experience in U.S. diplomacy.