Parties Finalizing Candidates for FPTP System
Sabika Shrestha
The deadline for nomination registration for first-past-the-post system to contest in the March 5 House of Representative election is just a day away.
Nepali Congress’s Deuba led faction filing a writ petition at the Supreme Court demanding postponement of the single day nomination schedule has made the matter interesting.
However, the election commission is moving ahead as per its calendar and the nomination will kick start in the first hour.
Many heavy weights have already reached their constituencies a day ahead of the nomination.
Following closure of the proportional representation PR system candidature, focus has shifted to the first past the post system where major parties have already worked out their nominees.
Despite recent split of Nepali Congress and the writ of the Deuba side at the Supreme Court demanding postponement of the FPTP nomination date, the intense homework of the parties is almost over.
Nepali Congress President Gagan Thapa meanwhile has been learnt to be engaging with top brass on candidate selection throughout Sunday and Monday.
Whether Thapa will be able to hold the fort in FPTP nomination will be decided by the Supreme Court, which has interestingly summoned three sides without issuing any order that would have affected the election timeline.
CPN UML secretariat’s marathon-meeting Sunday almost finalized the candidates for all 165 constituencies with about 20 remaining.
Not surprising that the number of aspirants in UML is high and president KP Oli has been given the responsibility to make the final decision on the candidates.
The Rastriya Swatantra Party (RSP) has also moved forward with its preparations, calling a Central Committee meeting where for the first time Balendra Shah took part as senior leader.
Nepali Communist Party meanwhile has finalized the candidates and coordinator Pushpa Kamal Dahal is already distributing the tickets one-by-one.
Dahal, held consultation with senior leader Madhav Kumar Nepal days ahead, signaling a clear decision to contest without electoral alliances.
In the meantime, the possibility of electoral alliance among major parties for the March 5 election seems slim however the possibility of an alliance to form the next government is on the cards.
The established parties are unsure whether the alternative forces and their new found alliance will affect their election strategy.
As per the timeline of the election commission for March 5 election, candidate nomination has been set for a single day on Tuesday, 20th of January.
Unlike in the past, one candidate can be nominated in only one constituency of out 165 this time, making the contest interesting as well decisive.
Of the 143 parties registered with the Election Commission, 114 are contesting the polls, with 102 parties competing independently and 12 parties forming five alliances under separate election symbols.
Irrespective of legacy or change agents, this time the FPTP election is surely to be the contest between the new faces and the old ones.
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