EC allocates 110 seats to six parties

By A Staff Reporter,Kathmandu, Mar. 13: The Election Commission has allocated 110 House of Representatives seats under the proportional representation (PR) system to six political parties that crossed the three per cent threshold in the March 5 election. 

The Commission on Thursday allocated seats based on valid votes received by parties under the PR system.

The Rastriya Swatantra Party secured 57 PR seats, receiving 47.8 per cent of the total valid PR votes.

Similarly, the Nepali Congress was allocated 20 seats, followed by the CPN-UML with 16 seats. The Nepali Communist Party secured nine seats, while the Shram Sanskriti Party and the Rastriya Prajatantra Party obtained four seats each.

With 125 seats won under the first-past-the-post (FPTP) system, the Rastriya Swatantra Party will have 182 lawmakers in the House of Representatives. The RSP will be short of two seats to enjoy a two-thirds majority in the Lower House.

Likewise, the second-largest party, the Nepali Congress, won 18 seats under the FPTP system, bringing its total number to 38 seats.

The CPN-UML won nine seats through direct election, taking its total number of lawmakers to 25.

Similarly, the Nepali Communist Party will have 17 lawmakers in total, including eight elected through the FPTP system.

The Shram Sanskriti Party, led by former Harka Sampang, the ex-mayor of Dharan, won three FPTP seats and will now have seven lawmakers in total. It is the newest party in the parliament.

The Rastriya Prajatantra Party, which won one seat under the FPTP system, will have five lawmakers.

EC’s Joint-Secretary Narayan Prasad Bhattarai said the Commission has requested the concerned political parties to submit the names of their candidates for the PR seats within three days, as per the election law and regulations.

EC’s Joint-Spokesperson Kul Bahadur GC said only six parties managed to cross the three per cent threshold required to secure PR seats. Interestingly, the HoR will have lawmakers from only six parties, as many parties that were in the previous House failed to win even a single seat this time. 

“Letters will be sent to the eligible parties asking them to submit their selected candidates within three days based on the decision of their respective central committees,” he said.  

He further added that the Commission will then review whether the required representation criteria have been met and may seek verification from the parties if necessary.

Meanwhile, Mahabir Pun will enter the House of Representatives as an independent lawmaker.

According to GC, the verification process may take five to seven days, as parties will first need time to submit their lists and correct any errors if found.

The Lower House of the Federal Parliament has 275 members, including 165 elected through FPTP and 110 through the PR system.

Voter turnout 

The voter turnout in the March 5 election remained above 59 per cent under the FPTP system, while a slightly higher number of votes were cast under the PR system, EC said. 

According to EC, out of 18,903,689 registered voters, 11,168,032 votes were cast under the FPTP system.  

Likewise, among the votes cast, 10,559,017 votes (94.55 per cent) were valid, while 609,015 votes (5.45 per cent) were declared invalid. 

Likewise, under the PR system, 11,280,617 votes were cast, slightly higher than the FPTP ballots. The voter turnout under the PR system was recorded at 59.67 per cent of the total registered voters. 

Of the total PR votes, 10,835,025 votes (96.05 per cent) were valid, while 445,592 votes (3.95 per cent) were invalid.

EC directs to submit expenditure details within 35 days

Meanwhile, the Commission has directed all political parties and candidates who participated in the House of Representatives election to submit a detailed report of their election campaign income and expenditure within 35 days.

The deadline is calculated from the date the results of the election held on March 5 were announced.

Under Section 72(4) of the House of Representatives Election Act, 2074 candidates under the FPTP system must submit their expenditure report to the respective district election office, while political parties under the PR system must submit their report in the format prescribed by the Commission, EC’s Joint-Secretary Bhattarai said

Similarly, according to Section 31(2) of the Election (Offence and Punishment) Act, 2073, the expenditure details must be made public for the information of the general public, he added.

Political parties and candidates are required to publish the expenditure details through any of the approved media channels and submit proof of publication, such as a photograph or screenshot, to the Commission or the relevant election office.

The EC has also warned that political parties or candidates who fail to submit the expenditure report within the stipulated time, do not make it public, or fail to provide proof of publication will be subject to action under the Election (Offence and Punishment) Act.