Parties submitting closed lists for 110 seats must name 15 Dalits, 32 Indigenous Peoples, 33 Khas Aryas, 18 Madhesis, 7 Tharus, and 5 Muslim candidates, of whom at least 57 must be women and 4 must be from backward areas.
What you should know
Based on the latest census, the Madhesi quota has been increased by one seat and the Khas Arya group has been reduced by one seat in the inclusive group of proportional representation in the House of Representatives. The government has amended the House of Representatives Election Act by revealing the population percentage of the inclusive group as per the 2078 census. Earlier, the inclusive quota in proportional representation was determined as per the 2068 census.
The ordinance to amend the act was issued by President Ram Chandra Poudel on the recommendation of the government. The Election Commission had been urging the government to amend the act. According to the election schedule, parties have two days, 13 and 14 Poush, to submit the closed list of candidates for proportional representation. There is a legal provision that parties must represent candidates in the closed list according to the population percentage of the inclusive group. The seats that the party gets based on the votes received in the proportional representation will be distributed according to the population percentage of the inclusive group.
The House of Representatives Election Act stipulates that the representation of Dalits, indigenous peoples, Khas Aryas, Madhesis, Tharu and Muslims will be based on the principle of inclusion according to population. Section 28(5) of the House of Representatives Election Act contains a provision regarding the proportional closed list. In Schedule-1 of the Act, the inclusion basis for the closed list of candidates was specified according to the 2068 Jaganna. In that, quotas were determined according to the old census, but the act has been amended and the percentage of Dalit, indigenous people, Khas Arya, Madhesi, Tharu and Muslim communities has been adjusted based on the 2078 census.
Acting Chief Election Commissioner Ram Prasad Bhandari said that now the work from selecting proportional candidates to the results will be done according to the population percentage of the inclusive group determined by the 2078 census. There is only a slight difference in the population of the inclusive group in the 2068 and 2078 census. According to the new population, one seat for Khas Arya will decrease in the 110 seats on the proportional side and one seat for Madhesi will increase. The guideline prepared by the commission after the amendment of the act through the ordinance shows a change of only one seat each in the seats of the two groups.
In the 2074 and 2079 elections, the representation on the proportional side was according to the 2068 census. Since it has been 3 years since the 2078 census report was made public, the quota for the proportional system has been adjusted according to the new report in this year's elections.
According to the amended population percentage act, a party submitting a closed list to field candidates for 110 seats under proportional representation must submit the names of Dalits-15, Indigenous Peoples-32, Khas Arya-33, Madhesi-18, Tharu-7 and 5 from the Muslim community. Out of these, at least 57 should be women and 4 should be from backward areas. The House of Representatives Election Act stipulates that while preparing a closed list of candidates for a party, the closed list must be prepared to field candidates for at least ten percent of the total number of members to be elected under the proportional representation system. Similarly, the closed list must include the names of at least 50 percent of the total candidates.
110 people are elected to the House of Representatives through the proportional representation system. Parties participating in the proportional representation system must submit a closed list with the names of at least 11 candidates. Those who submit 11 names should submit the names of 1 Dalit, 3 Indigenous Peoples, 3 Khas Arya, 2 Madhesi, 1 Tharu and 1 Muslim. The Commission has determined how many people should be included from which inclusive group when submitting names for seats from 11 to 110 in the proportional election guidelines.
