FCAN Election: Intense Competition Between Experienced and Youth Factions for Leadership

Kathmandu. Voting is set to take place today to elect the new leadership at the ongoing convention of the Federation of Contractors' Association of Nepal (FCAN). A fierce competition is expected between two main panels. Senior Vice President Ang Dorje Lama and contractor Nicholas Pandey have announced their candidacies along with their respective groups.

The Lama group, emphasizing experience, has fielded Roshan Dahal for Senior Vice President, NP Sherpa for Associate Vice President, Shiva Hari Ghimire for General Secretary, and Balaji Shrestha for Treasurer. Lama has made the amendment of the Public Procurement Act his primary agenda. General Secretary candidate Ghimire is an experienced individual who has previously served as Deputy General Secretary of the Federation.

The Pandey group, running on a platform of youth energy and change, has fielded Mukesh Pant for Senior Vice President, Dhirendra Dahal for General Secretary, and Ujjwal Gautam for Treasurer. Pandey has pledged to resolve the bottlenecks in the construction sector and push for the repeal of clauses in the Public Procurement Act that are unfavorable to contractors.

Both experienced and youth factions are vying for the Federation's leadership. AD Lama, with his extensive experience, and Nicholas Pandey, representing the youth group, are in the fray. Lama is considered strong due to his experience, while Pandey is expected to have the support of young entrepreneurs.

Roshan Dahal and Ramji Pant (Mukesh) are competing for the post of Senior Vice President. Dahal is considered strong based on his previous experience as General Secretary, while Pant is also known for his professional approach. Similarly, Narhari Thapariya and NP Sherpa are competing for the post of Associate Vice President.

Nominations for the post of General Secretary have been filed by Balibhadra Rana and Shiva Hari Ghimire. Rana is known as a professional thinker, while Ghimire is an experienced individual who has previously served as Deputy General Secretary of the Federation.

With two major panels active in the election, Pramod Lamichhane has presented his candidacy independently, citing the need for policy clarity and solutions to contractors' problems within the Federation. Lamichhane, who has 28 years of experience in the construction sector, has worked at the management level for 6 years at the National Construction Company Nepal (NCCN), which is owned by the Government of Nepal.

He has put forward his election agenda, claiming expertise in solving policy problems related to the Public Procurement Act and the construction sector. Mangal Shahi, Ashok Kumar KC, and Rajkumar Bastakoti are also competing for the same post, although their experience is analyzed to be somewhat less compared to Lamichhane.

A competition is expected for the post of Internal Deputy General Secretary among Engineer Santosh Sah, Chandrashekhar Malla, and the experienced Suvit Shrestha. For the post of Treasurer, Balaju Shrestha, who has professional competence, is competing against Ujjwal Gautam, who brings both work experience and youth energy. For the post of Assistant Treasurer, there is an attraction towards young leadership like Upendra Kumar Ghising and Dinesh Bahadur Singh.