There is a legal provision that political parties must prepare a closed list of candidates based on the principle of inclusion, with representation of Dalits, indigenous communities, Khas-Aryans, Madhesis, Tharus, and Muslims based on population.
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Acting Chief Election Commissioner Ram Prasad Bhandari has urged the government to urgently amend the law by disclosing the population percentage of inclusive groups as per the 2078 BS census to prepare a closed list of candidates for the proportional electoral system and to calculate the results.
The Chief Commissioner made this request to the three ministers who came to the commission for discussion on Tuesday. The commission has given political parties until December 13 and 14 to submit their closed lists of proportional candidates. Due to the pressure of time, Bhandari drew the attention of the ministers to amend the House of Representatives Election Act, 2074 BS at the earliest.
There is a legal provision that political parties must prepare a closed list of candidates in accordance with the principle of inclusion, representing Dalits, indigenous communities, Khas-Aryas, Madhesis, Tharu and Muslims on the basis of population. Section 28(5) of the House of Representatives Election Act mentions the provision regarding the proportional closed list. Schedule-1 of the act specifies the inclusive basis for the closed list of candidates as per the 2068 BS Jaganna. It mentions the percentage of the population of Dalits, indigenous communities, Khas-Aryas, Madhesis, Tharu and Muslim communities as per the old census. The parties had prepared closed lists in the House of Representatives elections held in 2074 BS and 2079 BS according to the census percentage of the inclusive groups mentioned in the act. The election and results were announced on that basis.
Bhandari said that the amendment to the act is necessary as the report of the 2078 census has been made public and representation should be made according to the latest percentage of the population. Schedule-1 of the House of Representatives Election Act states the population percentage of inclusive groups as per the 2068 census. Amendment to the law is necessary to make it as per the 2078 census. The commission had written to the Home Ministry on November 3 to move forward with the law amendment process. The law has not been amended till a month has passed.
The commission is under pressure as the time to submit the proportional closed list is approaching. ‘If the report has been received after the new census, it will not be possible to go according to the old population percentage. That will also raise legal questions,’ said Chief Commissioner Bhandari. ‘If the new percentage is not included in the law after being determined, it has not been possible to tell the parties to prepare the closed list accordingly.’
Law Minister Anil Sinha said that work is being done to derive the percentage as per the census regarding inclusive representation in the proportional system. He said that the government is working on amending the law by bringing an ordinance accordingly. Three government ministers and three officials of the Commission, including the commission's office in Kantipath, held an interaction on election preparations on Tuesday. In it, the commission had prioritized the issue of legal arrangements regarding the representation of inclusive groups on the basis of population towards the proportional electoral system.
Law Minister Sinha, Communications Minister Jagdish Kharel, and Minister for Women, Children and Senior Citizens Shraddha Shrestha were present at the commission.
