KATHMANDU, July 30: Ever since the country's two largest and traditionally rival parties-- the Nepali Congress (NC) and the CPN-UML-- agreed to form a new government on July 1, pledging constitutional amendments to ensure political stability, speculation has grown about a potential shift towards a two-party system in Nepal.

KATHMANDU, Dec 9: With the Election Commission (EC) releasing the final results of the November 20 elections to the members of House of Representatives (HoR), the two major political parties — Nepali Congress (NC) and CPN-UML — have shown interest in forming the next government. But the fractured mandate of the election has made fringe parties with fewer seats in parliament decisive in the formation of a new government than the first and second largest parties.