As per the Ministry’s proposal, the largest party, Unified Communist Party of Nepal (Maoist), will get 22-23 DDCs, the Nepali Congress and the Communist Party of Nepal (Unified Marxist-Leninist) will get 17 each, Madhesi People’s Rights Forum will get five, and other small parties as per the size in a particular district of region.
“But it is rough idea floated by the Ministry, we are yet to discuss the issue in our respective parties,” said NC leader Dr Prakash Sharam Mahat, a participant of the meeting.
Major parties are close to consensus on the concept of sharing seats, but they still have some differences. Maoists still have been insisting on a mixed system where the seats, as well as the votes, of the CA polls should be counted to determine the size of the parties, while the NC, UML and some others are insisting on being based completely on the votes of proportional representational seats.
Small parties like the Nepal Workers and Peasants Party, National People´s front, and Rastriya Prajatantra Party-Nepal have called for fresh elections. “We should know why the government is hell-bent on sharing the seats instead of holding fresh polls,” said Sunil Prajapati, a leader of NWPP. “As the parties, which criticized the system of gifting such political posts to someone’s henchmen, we should not go for sharing the seats.”
The parties, however, have agreed to set up a new task team to settle these differences, determine criteria and share the seats. “Ministry will call another meeting soon and the issue will be discussed there,” said Dr Mahat.
The Ministry in its concept paper has adopted the same criteria for sharing the seats in municipalities and the Village Development Committees as well.
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