Kathmandu, March 10: The counting of proportional representation votes for the House of Representatives election is in progress, and the Rastriya Swatantra Party has kept its strong lead.
Fresh figures released by the Election Commission at 7:46 am show the party far ahead of its rivals in the PR tally. The RSP had already dominated the first-past-the-post contests, and its advantage now continues in the proportional vote count as well.
So far, 10,297,497 ballots have been counted under the PR system. Among them, the RSP alone has received 4,951,964 votes. If the trend holds, the party may obtain around 58 seats through the PR system. Combined with its earlier victories in constituency races, the party will come close to a two-thirds majority in the 275-member House of Representatives. In the present parliament, a party or coalition needs 184 seats to control two-thirds of the chamber.
Other parties remain far behind in the proportional vote count.
The Nepali Congress has received 1,674,940 votes so far and may obtain about 19 PR seats. The CPN UML follows with 1,390,293 votes and may secure roughly 16 seats. The Nepali Communist Party has collected 753,082 votes and is expected to win about nine seats under the proportional system.
Two smaller parties have also crossed the minimum three per cent threshold required to be recognised as national parties. The Shram Sanskriti Party has secured 348,159 votes, while the Rastriya Prajatantra Party has obtained 322,604 votes. Each of these parties may gain about four seats through the proportional system.
Several other parties remain below the required vote share. The Janata Samajwadi Party Nepal has received 169,447 votes, the Rastriya Pariwartan Party has obtained 165,069 votes, and the Janamat Party has secured 75,486 votes so far. Since these parties have not crossed the three per cent mark and have limited success in constituency races, they are unlikely to receive national party status in the current parliament.
The earlier results from the first past the post contests already showed a major shift in the country’s political balance. The RSP won 125 constituency seats, far ahead of all competitors. The Nepali Congress secured 18 seats, the UML won nine, and the NCP obtained eight seats.
Among the smaller parties, the Shram Sanskriti Party won three constituency seats. The Rastriya Prajatantra Party managed to secure one seat, while one independent candidate also entered the House.
With the proportional votes still being counted, the RSP appears set to expand its lead further, placing the party close to commanding overwhelming strength in the federal parliament.
People’s News Monitoring Service
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