KATHMANDU: Sixty-four political parties have submitted closed lists of a total of 3,424 candidates to the Election Commission (EC) for the 110 seats under the proportional representation in the upcoming House of Representatives elections slated for March 5, next year. With this, 31 candidates will compete for each of the 110 seats under the proportional election system.

The parties have submitted the inclusive closed lists of their candidates based on population to the EC by Tuesday morning. With the submission of the lists, the political parties have formally joined the election process.

According to the Members of the House of Representatives Election Act, 2017, there are 6 inclusive groups under proportional representation. Similarly, according to the 2021Population Census, the entire geography has been considered as one electoral constituency and proportional inclusion has been divided on the basis of population.

Article 84, Clause 2, of the Constitution makes provision for the proportional election system. “Provision shall be made according to the Federal law for the representation of political parties to file candidacy for the election of the House of Representatives for proportional representation system through closed list of women, Dalit, indigenous nationalities, Khas Arya, Madhesi, Tharu, Muslim, and backward regions. Balance in geography and province shall be considered for such candidacy,” says the Constitution.

Accordingly, this time, 13.44 percent of Dalits, 28.72 percent of indigenous nationalities, 30.28 percent of Khas Aryas, 16.15 percent of Madhesis, 6.52 percent of Tharus, and 4.89 percent of Muslims have filed their candidacies for representation through the proportional system.

Representatives of political parties submitting their closed lists. Photo: Bhasha Sharma

According to EC Spokesperson Narayan Prasad Bhattarai, although 93 parties registered for the proportional elections, only 64 have submitted their closed lists. Out of 64, only 58 parties have submitted their lists to participate in the elections with election symbols. Of these, 54 political parties are competing with their own election symbols and 10 parties are competing with four common election symbols.

The Election Commission has already made public the schedule for the proportional election, with party registration starting on 6 December, and the direct nomination form will be registered on 20 January, 2026.

The EC has given time from December 30, 2025 to January 4, 2026 to investigate the closed lists of proportional representation and make changes as needed. Similarly, parties have time from January 5 to 11, 2026 to amend their closed list of candidates. Candidates on the closed lists can withdraw their names by January 13, 2026. The EC has scheduled the final list of proportional candidates to be published on 3 February 2026 after the candidates’ claims and protests are over.

In the 2022 elections, 85 parties had submitted closed lists of candidates for the House of Representatives on the proportional side. This time, all political parties registered for the proportional election are participating in the elections.

There is a provision for a total of 275 members in the House of Representatives, including 110 proportional and 165 direct seats. Voters will be able to vote for only one party under the proportional election. After this, the number of seats for the proportional candidates will be determined for a party through a specified formula from the total number of valid votes received by that party from across the country.

Political parties are legally obliged to get at least three percent of the votes to be elected under the proportional representation system. The proportional candidates of the parties which cannot cross the three percent ‘threshold’ from across the country in the election will have no meaning. The deposit money deposited by such parties will be forfeited. Each political party has also made a deposit of Rs 50,000 along with its closed list.

In the 2017 elections, a threshold was provided for the parties for the first time.