KATHMANDU, Feb 3: Small political parties have opposed the threshold provision for being recognized as national political parties in the Bill Related to Political Parties, which has yet to be endorsed by parliament.
Threshold forcing fringe parties to go for mergers, alliances
Speaking in parliament meeting Thursday, lawmakers from various fringe political parties opposed the bill, which is under discussion in parliament. Big political parties have proposed around three percent threshold provision to become national political party. The electoral threshold is the minimum share of the vote which a political party needs to secure.
Anuradha Thapamagar of the Nepal Workers and Peasants Party (NWPP) said that the threshold is not the reason behind the political instability. Likewise, Mahindra Yadav of Tarai Madhes Shadbhawana Party insisted that threshold provision shouldn't be imposed without broader political consensus among all political parties in parliament. "We oppose the proposal to bar fringe political parties from becoming national political parties," he said.
Rukmini Chaudhary of Sanghiya Loktantrik Rastriya Manch challenged the big parties to impose over 70 percent threshold.
The State Affairs Committee (SAC) of parliament has been unable to finalize the Bill Related to Political Parties due to the fringe political parties' opposition to the threshold provision.
