The Election Commission has written to the government to correct errors, including the failure to align the inclusive 'clusters' and the failure to include names from inclusive groups as per the percentage of representation specified in the act.
What you should know
The Election Commission has sent a letter on Monday to correct all 58 closed lists of the proportional representation system submitted by the parties after finding errors. For the proportional representation system, 54 parties had submitted 4 closed lists individually and 10 parties had submitted 4 closed lists. The Commission investigated the lists from 15-20 Poush. The Commission has given time from 21-27 Poush to correct the errors and submit them.
The inclusionary 'cluster' of the names on the closed list has not been adjusted, and names have not been included from the inclusionary group as per the percentage of representation specified in the act. Similarly, the commission has stated that errors have been found in the citizenship of the candidate, the content of the voter list, etc. Documents such as approval letters and self-declarations on behalf of the candidate have not been included in the closed list. Although at least one person with a disability should be included in the list, this has not been done, the specified number of backward areas have not been represented, and some parties have submitted the list by showing districts that are not in backward areas as backward areas.
The House of Representatives Election Act stipulates that the representation of Dalits, indigenous peoples, Khas Aryas, Madhesis, Tharus and Muslims shall be based on the principle of inclusion according to population. Political parties submitting closed lists for 110 seats in the proportional representation category according to population percentage must name 15 Dalits, 32 Indigenous Peoples, 33 Khas Aryas, 18 Madhesis, 7 Tharus and 5 Muslims. Of these, at least 57 should be women and 4 should be from backward areas. It has been said that people with disabilities should also be represented in it. The Commission has stated that the parties have not submitted their lists accordingly.
As per the election program, 64 parties had submitted closed lists to the Commission on 13-14 Poush. 3,424 candidates have filed their candidacies for 110 seats in the proportional representation category. However, Joint Secretary of the Commission, Yagya Prasad Bhattarai, said that all the parties made mistakes in the necessary documents and procedures prescribed by the Act, Rules and Guidelines. ‘The same error has been seen in the closed lists of most of them.’ We have asked the parties to correct the issues that are not in compliance,' he said. Bhattarai said that parties will not be allowed to correct the list arbitrarily, except for the issues that are not in compliance pointed out by the commission.
According to the election schedule, if a candidate wants to withdraw his name, he will be able to apply on December 28. Currently, some candidates have announced their withdrawal of candidacy on social media. However, just announcing it is not enough. The concerned candidate must apply to the commission for withdrawal of his name. Political parties, however, cannot withdraw the name of the candidate.
After the candidate withdraws his name, the commission will inform the concerned political party on December 29. The time limit for sending the name of another candidate for the vacant seat is from December 30 to January 2. The commission will publish the list of closed lists on January 4. The time limit for opposing the claims against the qualifications of the candidates included in the closed list is from January 5 to 10. The time for the Commission to investigate and decide on the claims and complaints is from 11-17 Magh. If someone's name has to be removed due to claims and complaints, the Commission will publish a notice on 19 Magh and the final list of candidates will be published on 20 Magh.
