But since each party can nominate only 575 candidates, including 240 under the First Past the Post (FPTP) and 335 under proportional representation electoral system, political parties are finding it a real challenge not only to strike a balance between rival factions within the party, but also to appease poll aspirants.[break]
Only on Wednesday, CPN-UML Chairman Jhalanath Khanal´s aide Nirmal Kumar Bhattarai accusing the party of not recognizing his contributions and quit the party.
“Political parties are in a tight spot because of an inordinately large number of aspiring candidates. Some of these are from the same constituency and are equally influential,” admitted UML leader Ram Nath Dhakal.
The internal feud between the factions led by Chairman Khanal, Madhav Kumar Nepal and KP Sharma Oli has made matters worse for UML. These factions have parallel groups in almost all districts and constituencies across the country.
The UML Standing Committee meeting under way since Tuesday finalized over 50 percent candidacies under FPTP, according to party insiders. But as the district-level leaders from all three factions are staking claim to candidacy, the top leadership is working hard to strike a balance between the factions.
As per the adjustment made by EC in its calendar of events on Thursday, political parties should file candidacies for proportional seats on September 30 and for FPTP seats on October 3.
“It is certainly a big challenge for the party leadership to appease all aspiring poll candidates,” argued another UML leader. Failure to strike a balance may either result in non-cooperation or widening of the factional rift.
UML is not an exception though. Factional rift prevails in the UCPN-Maoist and the Nepali Congress as well. There are three factions in the UCPN (Maoist) and two in NC. While NC has started internal homework after forming its parliament board, factional rift in the UCPN (Maoist) only appears growing.
The major problem the UCPN (Maoist) faces is that they have not set criteria for nomination of election candidates. Having failed to form the party´s standing committee and politburo, the party later even dissolved the officer bearers´ body due to factional rivalry. “The party now faces a similar problem in selecting poll candidates. It is difficult for the party to strike a perfect balance in nominating election candidates from among insurgency-era cadres and newcomers while at the same time ensuring inclusion,” said a party insider. But finalizing candidates from 3,000 nominations for 575 constituencies is a daunting task.
NC parliamentary board, which announced to have settled all 70 complaints concerning nomination of candidates on Wednesday, is holding day-long meetings to finalize the candidates. It is yet to be seen how NC settles the issue as Deuba faction, which settled for five members in the 14-member parliamentary body, has been insisting that their faction be given a “fair share”.
Apart from the major parties, various other parties, including Rastriya Prajatantra Party (RPP), Rastriya Prajatantra Party-Nepal (RPP-N) and Madhes-based parties are also busy doing internal homework to finalize poll candidates. As there is no mandatory constitutional provision requiring parties that field candidacies in less than 30 percent constituencies to ensure inclusion, there are concerns whether the new CA would be as inclusive as the previous one.
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