By Our Reporter
The alliance forged by the Nepali Congress and the CPN-UML, the two large parties having 166 lawmakers combined in the House of Representatives, have shocked the smaller parties as well as the CPN (Maoist Centre).
The alliance is taken as the beginning point of establishing a two-party system in Nepal. CPN-UML general secretary Shanker Pokharel and a few NC leaders have been advocating for the two-party system, and Pokharel is believed to be the mastermind behind the unbelievable-like NC-UML alliance.
The news about the inking of the agreement by NC president Sher Bahadur Deuba and CPN-UML chairman KP Sharma Oli pleased the supporters of the two parties as well as the public fed up with political instability. The alliance will at least weaken the bargaining power of the smaller parties, as they lack the capacity to pull down the coalition government of the NC and UML.
Moreover, the two parties have argued that they forged the alliance to amend the constitution, especially the electoral system. Of course, it is the proportional election system that has led to political instability because no single party could garner a majority in the existing election system. In the 275-member House of Representatives, 165 members are elected under the first-past-the-post electoral system and 110 under PR system. Even if a single party wins 90 seats under the FPTP system and 42 under PR system, it cannot garner the majority of 138 seats. It was what the two parties realised in the two general elections. Instead, only the smaller parties are taking advantage of the PR system. For example, Rastriya Swatantra Party won seven seats under the FPTP system and 13 under PR system. But NC which won 57 seats under FPTP seats, won only 32 under PR system. The same is applied to the Rastriya Prajantra Party and the Maoist Centre, which won more seats in PR than in the FPTP system.
Now, the UML and NC have floated the idea of changing the election system. They may end the PR electoral system in the House of Representatives and Provincial Assembly, which means the number of smaller parties will be reduced further while one of the two big parties is likely to win majority seats.
This is why the alliance of NC and UML has drawn criticism from the smaller parties like the Maoist Centre, and their supporters. However, the Rastriya Prajatantra Party has welcomed the move made to amend the constitution. If the NC and UML manage to amend the constitution as planned in two years, one of the two parties will garner a majority in the general election of 2084. However, it is not that easy to amend the constitution, as the two big parties do not have a two-thirds majority in the Federal Parliament, especially in the National Assembly. They need to wait a year to have a two-thirds majority, which means till the election of one-thirds of the NA members.
There are others who argue that democracy will be weakened when the two big parties form a coalition government leaving smaller parties in the opposition. However, when NC and UML leaders have said that the alliance is for political stability, which has been the biggest problem in Nepal, many have welcomed the new alliance.
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