Mixed Bag
The parliament passes the crucial Constituent Assembly Members election bill setting rules for mixed proportional elections
By SANJAYA DHAKAL
The crucial bill on Constituent Assembly Members Election was passed on June 14 by the parliament after marathon debates and discussions.
As it contained complicated provisions and aimed to usher in a totally new electoral system, the protracted deliberations were expected.
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Election Commission : Legislations in place |
With the passage of the bill, it is now certain that the elections for CA will be held on the basis on mixed proportional representation. There will be 497-member CA with 240 seats each set aside for direct elections and proportional elections respectively. The remaining 17 members will be nominated by the cabinet.
As per the newly enacted Bill, proportional seats have been allocated to women, Dalit, Madhesis, Janajatis and others for the 240 seats set aside for proportional representation-based elections during the CA.
In the 240 seats allocated for PR-based elections, the new Act states that 50 percent will be given for women in terms of total candidates. Correspondingly, for Madhesi men and women, 15.6 percent each have been set aside. For Dalits men and women, 6.5 percent each have been allocated and for ethnic Janajatis men and women 18.9 percent each have been set aside. Two percent each have been allocated for men and women, respectively, of backward region and 15.1 percent each have been earmarked for men and women from 'other' category.
The PR-based elections will follow the closed (list) system model. This means that the political parties will need to submit their list of 240 candidates in terms of its preference level from top to bottom to the Election Commission prior to the elections. This list will be closed ie not made public.
The enacted Bill also includes provision whereby those who occupied political positions during last year's Jana Andolan II and who have been named in the Rayamajhi Commission report as suppressors of Jana Andolan II will be barred from taking part in the CA elections.
This provision has been termed as controversial by many legal experts who believe that mere mention of name in Rayamajhi Commission – which lacks judicial authority – should not bar any individual from contesting polls unless he/she is found as guilty by the court of law.
The enacted Bill also includes provision whereby a political party cannot field its candidates in less than 10 percent of seats.
And only those parties will need to abide by the seat-allocation rules who field candidates in more than 20 percent of constituencies.
Nine districts have been named as backward region including Achham, Kalikot, Jajarkot, Jumla, Dolpa, Bajhang, Bajura, Mugu, and Humla.
The bill had been subjected to extensive debates and discussions at the State Affairs Committee (SAC) of the Legislative Parliament.
Meanwhile, the winter session of the parliament has been prorogued by the Prime Minister in accordance with the Interim Constitution and with the consent of the Speaker. This is the first time that PM has prorogued a parliamentary session. The interim constitution bars the King from either calling or proroguing the parliamentary sessions.
The winter session ran for five months. The session had began on January 15 by endorsing the Interim Constitution.
The very first session of the legislature parliament has passed a number of crucial legislations including two amendments of interim constitution as well as electoral legislations. The legislature parliament, which has 330 members nominated by the parties, had replaced the elected House of Representatives, which was restored by the King in the face of Jana Andolan II last year.
After a brief recess, the budgetary session of the parliament is expected to be called within next few weeks. "The parliament has fulfilled its major responsibilities. And now the lawmakers can visit their respective districts and villages and spread the message of Constituent Assembly elections," said Speaker Subas Nemwang.
