The Tamesis
kathmandu – Election fever is sweeping the country as the nomination process is completed. While the Electoral Commission has issued warnings against campaigning before February 19, top leaders across party lines have started efforts to woo voters along with candidates in various constituencies. As the nation eagerly awaits the March 5 midterm elections for the House of Representatives (HoR) after a Gen Z-led movement led to the dissolution of the House of Representatives, The Washington Post explains different aspects of the poll.
What is the composition of HoR?
Nepal has a bicameral federal parliament. The 59-member upper house, called the National Assembly, is a permanent body, with one-third of its members elected every two years after completing a six-year term. The House of Commons consists of 275 members, 60% of whom are elected by first-past-the-post (FPTP) and the remainder by proportional representation (PR).
The country is divided into 165 constituencies, each of which elects one member under the FPTP. Registered voters in each constituency can cast two votes: one for FPTP and the other for PR. Under FPTP (also known as direct election), every voter can vote for the candidate of his or her choice. The candidate with the highest number of votes is elected from the corresponding constituency.
Voters can cast a second vote for the party running for election. The 110 seats are allocated based on each party’s vote share, but they must qualify as national parties. A party that receives at least three percent of the total public vote and wins at least one seat in a direct election is considered a national party.
How many political parties are participating in the election?
The commission’s records show the number of registered parties is 136, about a quarter of which were registered after the Gen Z movement in September. Of these, 120 people applied to run, including those running under a single electoral symbol. This number is further reduced when parties submit closed lists of PR candidates and field candidates for the FPTP system. While 63 political parties contesting under 57 electoral symbols have submitted closed lists, 68 parties have fielded direct candidates.
How many candidates are competing?
The final tally of FPTP candidates was 3,406. Of these, 68 political parties fielded 2,263 candidates, while 1,143 candidates ran as independents. Of the total number of candidates running for direct elections, 3,017 are male and 388 are female. Only one was from a sexual minority.
Candidates are mainly aged 41 and above. The number of people under 40 years old is 1,056. 1,925 people are between the ages of 41 and 60, 425 of whom are senior citizens. Although 3,487 candidates submitted nominations, 81 candidates withdrew from the race or had their nominations canceled by the committee after being found to be ineligible.
The number of candidates for the 110 proportional seats is 3,213. Unlike the direct election system, under the PR system only political parties and not independent candidates can submit candidatures.
Who can vote and what is their size?
Citizenship can be obtained by any Nepali national who reaches the age of 16 years. However, the right to vote cannot be exercised until one reaches the age of 18 and is registered as a voter. According to the commission’s report, 18,903,689 citizens were eligible to vote in March, an increase of 915,119 voters compared to the 2022 elections. Among them, people aged 18-40 account for 52% and belong to the youth group. According to the 2021 census, youth account for 12,412,173 of the country’s total population of 29,164,578.
How to manage security?
After a security assessment, the Central Security Commission decided to mobilize 325,000 security personnel to provide security for the upcoming election. These include approximately 80,000 Nepal Army personnel, 35,000 Armed Police Force personnel, 71,000 Nepal Police personnel and 149,000 election police personnel. Both police forces have been recruiting election police officers, who will be on the ground for a little more than a month. Army personnel will be mobilized from the first week of February.
How much did it cost?
As of last week, the finance ministry had allocated Rs 1,921 crore for logistics and security management. The commission, which manages the elections, has received Rs 672 crore so far. The highest allocation – Rs 1,039 crore – was allocated to the home ministry, while the defense ministry got Rs 1.99 billion.
Political parties spend many times more on their campaigns than the government spends.
