Kathmandu, Nepal June 28, 2022: Even though the date for the provincial and federal elections is yet to be fixed, the debate over the issue of seat-sharing has already griped the ruling allies- Nepali Congress, CPN (Maoist Centre), CPN (United Socialist), Janata Samajwadi Party Nepal (JSPN), and the Rastriya Janamorch
The ruling allies, particularly the Maoist Centre, United Socialist and the JSPN, have proposed the ruling head Nepali Congress that seat-sharing arrangements should be fixed before the poll dates are announced.
Even though the Nepal Congress is also in favour of electoral alliance with the ruling allies as of the local level elections held on May 13, it has felt pressure to settle the seat-sharing deal before announcing the election date.
As the Maoist Centre, United Socialist and the JSPN have a chance to forge electoral alliance with the main opposition CPN UML if the Nepali Congress does not agree to allocate seats as per their wish, the Nepali Congress if not in favour of finalizing the seat-sharing arrangements before announcing the election dates.
The Election Commission (EC) has recommended the government that the election date should not be later than the third week of coming November if it intends to hold in a single phase.
As election Commission requires at least 120 days making necessary preparations to hold the election, the government has to announce election date within two months. The government has to hold all provincial and federal elections within coming November.
Maoist Center Chair Pushpa Kamal Dahal, United Socialist chair Madhav Kumar Nepal and Janata Samajbadi Party Chair Upendra Yadav had raised the issue of settling the seat sharing during the recent meeting held with Prime Minister and Nepali Congress President Sher Bahadur Deuba though the meeting was organized to discuss over the reshuffle of the cabinet.
During the meeting, Deuba had suggested the leaders of the ruling allies to reshuffle the cabinet before announcing the date for the provincial and federal elections on the basis of the performance of the ministers. It is said that Prime Minister Deuba intends to replace finance minister Janardan Sharma due to the reason of his poor performance. The Maoist Center is also not satisfied with Sharma. But it has failed to take decision.
Though the cabinet was reshuffled on Sunday to replace the ministers from the United Socialist, it would be replaced other ministers from the Nepal Congress, Maoist Center and the Janata Samajwadi as well before announcing the date for the provincial and federal elections, claims s source close to the Prime Minister.
