85 persons apply to withdraw names from closed PR lists

By A Staff Reporter, Kathmandu, Jan. 13: More than 85 individuals listed on the closed lists of proportional representation (PR) candidates submitted by political parties to the Election Commission (EC) have applied to withdraw their candidacy, while over 40 applications are still under verification.

According to the EC’s Joint Spokesperson, Kul GC, the Commission had verified withdrawal applications from 85 candidates by 9:30 pm on Monday, with more than 40 additional applications still being processed.

The official time for submitting withdrawal applications was from 10:00 am to 4:00 pm. However, applications submitted by candidates or their authorized representatives, who arrived at the Commission before the deadline were also accepted for processing. 

Of the 85 candidates seeking to withdraw, 21 are from the Janamat Party, 12 from the Rastriya Prajatantra Party, five from the CPN-UML, two each from the Nepali Congress and the Nepali Communist Party, and one from the Rastriya Swatantra Party.

Nepal’s House of Representatives has 275 members, of whom 110 are elected through the proportional representation system and 165 through the first-past-the-post system. Political parties had  submitted their closed lists for the proportional representation election on December 28 and 29. 

GC said that by Sunday, political parties had corrected their lists in compliance with the mandatory inclusion of cluster requirements.

Candidates wishing to withdraw either appeared in person at the Election Commission or sent authorised representatives to submit their applications, GC added.

Following the withdrawals, the Election Commission will formally notify the concerned political parties on January 13. The parties must then nominate replacement candidates from the same cluster between January 14 and January 16. The revised proportional representation (PR) closed lists will be published on January 18. Applications for claims and objections related to candidates may be filed from January 19 to January 24.

The Election Commission will review the claims and objections through January 31 and publish a notice on February 2 regarding the removal of any ineligible candidates. The final PR closed lists will be made public on February 3.

A total of 64 political parties have submitted closed lists for the proportional representation election. Of them, 54 parties submitted lists under their own election symbols, while 10 parties submitted lists under four common symbols, according to the Election Commission. Nomination registration for the direct, first-past-the-post system is scheduled for January 19. The election for the House of Representatives will be held on March 5.