Major parties including the UCPN (Maoist), Nepali Congress and CPN-UML have given important consideration to local ethnic composition and regional politics while selecting their poll candidates. Leaving aside a few notable exceptions, all three major parties, unlike in the past, are found fielding indigenous and Madhesi candidates in all districts densely populated by ethnic groups. [break]
"Of course, the composition of local populations has been an important consideration in the selection of poll candidates. While UML had been doing this since past elections, other parties also seem to have followed suit this time," said UML´s Publicity Department Secretary Surya Thapa.
Though the UML set various criteria for candidates including loyalty to the party, past poll wins or nearest to winning, among other things, the ethnic and regional background of the candidates dominated the selection process. As such, UML has fielded 59 candidates from ethnic indigenous communities and 44 Madhesi candidates under the first-past-the-post (FPTP) electoral system.
NC was no exception.Though the party´s basis for selection of candidates was nomination by its district committees and the popularity of the nominees at local level, the actual selection was largely influenced by ethnic and regional considerations. "Our local committees themselves had given due consideration to the ethnic and regional backgrounds of candidates while recommending them. Nevertheless, we were cautious enough to ensure that the candidates belonged to the dominant community or ethnic group of the constituency, barring a few exceptions," said a member of the parliamentary board, which is mandated to pick poll candidates.
The number of poll candidates from Madhesi and indigenous communities is far higher compared to all previous elections. NC fielded a total of 55 Madhesi and over 44 indigenous candidates.
The UCPN (Maoist), which claims to have championed the cause of backward and marginalized groups, is found to be fielding a higher number of Madhesi candidates under FPTP. While the party fielded 67 Madhesis, the number of indigenous candidates stand at 57.
Nevertheless, all three major parties appear to be fielding women and dalit candidates only to meet the mandatory provision of ensuring 33 percent women candidates both under FPTP and proportional electoral system. While UCPN (Maoist) has fielded 25 women candidates, the numbers of women candidates fielded by the UML and NC stand at 24 and 23, respectively. As per electoral laws, each party requires to ensure at least 33 percent representation of women in their candidacies.
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