“It depends on how the political parties forge consensus on the issue,” Suryaman Amatya, a member of then Election Constituency Delimitation Commission, told Republica, adding, “There is also an issue of whether the new CA would have 491 or 601 seats.” He said that the number of constituencies in Kathmandu, Lalitpur, Baktapur, Sunsari, Sarlahi, Rupandehi and Kailali districts would increase as the populations of these districts have increased over the decade.
Similarly, professor Om Gurung argued that delineation of election constituencies prior to conducting the polls will only complicate the situation. “Alteration of the existing election constituencies may not be acceptable to many people,” he said. [break]
Experts have suggested that the number of election constituencies should be reduced in hilly districts, if the number of constituencies is increased in Kathmandu Valley and other populous Tarai districts.
However, professor Krishna Bhattachan claimed that alteration in the number of the electoral constituencies will not significantly affect representation of Madhesis and indigenous people in the CA.
“The three major political parties -- UCPN (Maoist), Nepali Congress (NC) and CPN-UML-- will not accept delineation of constituencies in accordance with population cluster of Madhesis and indigenous people,” said Bhattachan.
According to the Constituency Delineation Commission 2063, Kathmandu had 10 constituencies followed by Morang, which had nine constituencies in the 2008 CA election.
Jhapa, Dhanusha and Rupendehi district each had seven constituencies while Sunsari, Saptari, Siraha, Sarlahi, Mahottari, Rautahat, Bara, Nawalparasi, and Kailali each had six.
Parsa, Chitwan, Kapilvastu and Dang each had five constituencies while Kavrepalanchok, Makawanpur, Kaski, Banke, Bardiya and Kanchanpur each had four constituencies.
Udayapur, Sindhupalchok, Ilam, Sindhuli, Lalitpur, Nuwakot, Dhading, Gorkha, Tanahun, Syangja, Baglung, Gulmi, Palpa and Surkhet each had three constituencies.
Similarly, Taplejung, Sankhuwasabha, Dolakha, Bajhang, Panchathar, Dhankuta, Bhojpur, Okhaldhunga, Khotang, Ramechhap, Bhaktapur, Lamajung, Parbat, Arghakhanchi, Pyuthan, Rolpa, Rukum, Salyan, Dailekh, Jajarkot, Achham, Doti and Baitadi each had two constituencies.
Likewise, Terhathum, Solukhumbu, Rasuwa, Manang, Myagdi, Mustang, Dolpa, Jumla, Kalikot, Mugu, Humla, Bajura, Dadeldhura and Darchula had one constituency each.
According to the new census report, the total population has increased by 3.3 million compared to the 2001 census. As per the interim constitution, constituencies should be delineated on the basis of census report.
Clause 3 (a) of Article 63 of the interim constitution states one member each from the 240 election constituencies would be elected under the first-past-the-post electoral system. It has stated that election constituencies would be delimited by the Election Constituency Delimitation Commission in accordance with the population fixed by the national census preceding the CA election, and for this purpose an administrative district will be treated as an election district, with the number of constituencies therein determined on the basis of the population of that district.
According to Article 154 A, the government may constitute a Constituency Delimitation Commission to determine election constituencies for the purpose of election of members of the Constituent Assembly, and the commission shall consist of a retired justice of the SC as chairperson, a geographer, a sociologist and an administrator or management expert as members and a special class officer in the service of the government as member-secretary.
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