FSU election: voting in progress

Voting under the Free Students Union (FSU) election is underway in the Central Campus of the Tribhuvan University (TU) and its constituent and affiliated campuses across the country.

The voting that commenced at 8:00 am will continue until 4:00 pm, according to TU Students Welfare and Sports Directorate director Pashupati Adhikari. The TU officials said that the FSU election is being held in 60 constituent campuses and 1,040 affiliated campuses across the country. So far, the FSU leadership has been elected unopposed in two constituent campuses and some affiliated campuses.

Students are enthusiastically taking part in the election held after 14 years. Though the election is biannual, it had been irregular since 2065 BS. As Adhikari said, security arrangements have been tightened in all the colleges including the TU Central Campus and the Kathmandu Valley-based Nepal Law Campus, Saraswoti Campus, Mahendra Ratna Multiple Campus, Thapathali Engineering Campus and Padma Kanya Multiple Campus where the voting is underway.

The election based on a mixed electoral system will elect the president, secretary, treasurer and fifty percent of the members through the direct (FPTP) electoral system and vice president, joint-secretary and fifty percent of the members through the proportional representation electoral system. However, the election has been suspended in 13 campuses due to disputes among the students’ unions. The election has been halted in RR Campus, Amrit Science Campus, Patan Multiple Campus, Nepal Commerce Campus and Bishwo Bhasha Campus.

Likewise, the election has been suspended in Pokhara-based Prithvi Narayan Campus, Paschimanchal Engineering Campus, the Institute of Forestry and Pokhara Nursing Campus, Thakur Ram Multiple Campus in Birgunj, Birendra Multiple Campus in Chitwan, Dhawalagiri Multiple Campus in Baglung and Shree Sidhhanath Science Multiple Campus in Mahendranagar. It has been rescheduled for March 23 in Tri-Chandra Campus.