KATHMANDU, March 15: Major political parties are rushing to finalize and submit the list of lawmakers under the proportional representation system within the deadline set by the Election Commission Nepal.
Based on the March 5 parliamentary election, parties that secured proportional seats must submit the final names of their nominees by Sunday.
The CPN-UML has already finalized its proportional representation lawmakers. Party secretary Mahesh Basnet said the decision was made during a secretariat meeting held Saturday at the residence of party chair KP Sharma Oli in Gundu, Bhaktapur.
UML, which had emerged as the second largest party in the House of Representatives with 45 direct seats in the previous election, suffered a sharp setback this time. It won only nine direct seats and received 13.46 percent of the proportional vote, giving it 16 seats under the PR system.
Meanwhile, the Rastriya Swatantra Party, which has emerged as the largest force in parliament with a near two-thirds majority, has called a secretariat meeting for Sunday to finalize its PR nominees. The party won 125 seats through direct voting and secured 47.80 percent of the proportional vote, earning 57 PR seats. In the previous election, it had secured 13 proportional seats.
Party spokesperson Manish Jha said the meeting, originally scheduled for Saturday, was postponed to Sunday morning at 10 am. Party sources say the meeting will also discuss technical and procedural matters, as the process of government formation will begin once the Election Commission submits the final results to the president.
The commission plans to distribute certificates to PR lawmakers on March 19 and submit the final election report to the president on the same day.
The Nepali Congress has also scheduled a central executive committee meeting at 1 pm Sunday to finalize its proportional lawmakers. In the previous election, the party emerged as the largest in the House, winning 57 direct seats. This time it has suffered losses, securing only 18 direct seats and 16.27 percent of the proportional vote, which gives it 20 PR seats. In the previous election, PR won 34 seats.
The Nepal Communist Party led by Pushpa Kamal Dahal is also preparing to finalize its proportional lawmakers. The party secured eight direct seats, while the result of Dhanusha 1 remains under court review. It received 7.50 percent of the proportional vote, giving it nine PR seats.
CPN (Unified Socialist) to finalize ministers today
In the previous election, Dahal’s former party, the CPN (Maoist Centre), had emerged as the third largest force with 17 direct seats and 32 proportional seats. The Communist Party of Nepal (Unified Socialist), which had won 10 direct seats earlier, did not secure any proportional seat this time.
A new entrant, the Shram Sanskriti Party, crossed the three percent threshold and secured four proportional seats. The party won three direct seats and obtained 385,902 votes, or 3.57 percent in the proportional category.
According to party central treasurer Samita Rai, Mandira Moktan from Hetauda has been nominated under the indigenous women category, Ambika Sangraula under the Khas Arya women category, Radhika Ramtel from Surkhet under the Dalit category, and former Gurkha soldier Purna Limbu under the indigenous Janajati category.
The party had earlier faced internal disputes over the selection of PR lawmakers. Jeevan Bista, who was ranked first under the Khas Arya category, announced he was withdrawing his name from the closed list due to internal disagreements. In a social media post he said it was not the time to fight for positions and that he stepped aside to respect the party and voters.
Earlier, party chair and newly elected lawmaker Harka Sampang had expressed frustration over the dispute on social media, saying people should “eat rice and stop troubling him.” He warned that those creating unnecessary controversy over the PR nominations could face expulsion from the party.
The Rastriya Prajatantra Party is also preparing to finalize its PR nominees. The party won one direct seat and secured 3.06 percent of the proportional vote, giving it four PR seats. In the previous election, it had won seven seats each under the direct and proportional systems.
Two parties that had emerged in the previous election, the Nagarik Unmukti Party and the Janamat Party, failed to secure national party status this time. Nagarik Unmukti had merged into the Dahal-led NCP ahead of the election. After internal divisions, Resham Chaudhary formed Nagarik Unmukti Nepal and contested the election.
Both Nagarik Unmukti Nepal and the Janamat Party failed to win a single seat under either system, even though both had national party status in the previous parliament.
Similarly, the Janata Samajbadi Party Nepal led by Upendra Yadav failed to retain its presence in parliament through both the direct and proportional systems. The Madhes-based political movement had originally risen from the 2007 Madhes uprising through the Madhesi Janadhikar Forum. Despite an electoral alliance before the polls between the Loktantrik Samajbadi Party, led by Mahantha Thakur, and JSP Nepal, voters did not support them.
Other parties such as the Rastriya Janamorcha and the Nepal Workers and Peasants Party will also be excluded from the new parliament despite having seats in the previous one.
In the last election, five independent candidates won seats. This time only Mahabir Pun managed to secure victory as an independent candidate.
KATHMANDU: Major political parties are making last minute moves to submit the final list of lawmakers under the proportional representation system within the deadline set by the Election Commission Nepal.
Following the March 5 parliamentary election, parties that secured seats through the PR system must submit their final nominations by Sunday.
The CPN-UML finalized its list on Saturday through a secretariat meeting held at the residence of party chair KP Sharma Oli in Gundu, Bhaktapur. The party secured only nine seats under the direct voting system and received 13.46 percent of the PR vote, giving it 16 proportional seats in the House of Representatives.
Meanwhile, the Rastriya Swatantra Party, which emerged as the largest force in parliament with a near two-thirds majority, has called a secretariat meeting for Sunday morning to finalize its PR lawmakers. The party won 125 seats through direct voting and secured 47.80 percent of the PR vote, giving it 57 seats under the proportional system. In the previous election, the party had won only 13 PR seats.
The Nepali Congress has also scheduled a central executive committee meeting on Sunday afternoon to finalize its PR lawmakers. The party secured 16.27 percent of the PR vote and obtained 20 seats. In the previous election, it had won 34 PR seats but has now been reduced to only 18 seats through direct voting.
The Nepal Communist Party led by Pushpa Kamal Dahal is also preparing to finalize its PR list. The party secured eight direct seats, with one result still under court review, and received 7.50 percent of the PR vote, earning nine proportional seats.
A new entrant, the Shram Sanskriti Party, crossed the three percent threshold and secured four proportional seats along with three direct seats. Party officials say Mandira Moktan, Ambika Sangraula, Radhika Ramtel, and former Gurkha soldier Purna Limbu have been selected as PR lawmakers.
Internal disputes had surfaced in the party over the PR nominations. Candidate Jeevan Bista withdrew his name from the closed list citing internal disagreements. Party chair Harka Sampang had earlier expressed frustration over the dispute on social media and warned of disciplinary action.
The Rastriya Prajatantra Party is also preparing to finalize its PR nominees. The party secured one direct seat and received 3.06 percent of the PR vote, giving it four proportional seats.
Several parties that had presence in the previous parliament have failed to secure representation this time. The Janamat Party and Nagarik Unmukti Party could not win any seats in either category.
The Janata Samajbadi Party Nepal led by Upendra Yadav also failed to secure representation in both the direct and proportional systems despite having won several seats in the previous election.
Other smaller parties such as the Rastriya Janamorcha and Nepal Workers and Peasants Party will also remain outside the new parliament.
Among independent candidates, only Mahabir Pun managed to win a seat in the new House of Representatives.
