KATHMANDU: With the aim of making representative institutions inclusive, the country adopted a mixed electoral system. Introduced by the Interim Constitution of 2007 (2063 BS), this system was continued by the Constitution of 2015 (2072 BS), under which there are two systems: first-past-the-post (direct election) and proportional representation.

The objective of the proportional system is to ensure representation of marginalized communities and backward regions. However, looking at the proportional candidate lists submitted by political parties for the House of Representatives election to be held on March 5, they appear to be centered on urban and accessible areas.

The Election Commission made public the closed lists of proportional candidates submitted by political parties on January 18. Under the proportional system, parties are allowed to nominate up to 110 candidates within ethnic “clusters.” In the election, 63 parties are competing under 56 election symbols. Parties such as CPN (ML), CPN (Unified), CPN (UML), CPN (Maoist), Nepali Communist Party, Nepal Workers and Peasants Party, Nepal Sadbhawana Party, Nepali Congress, Mongol Organization, Rastriya Janamorcha, Rastriya Prajatantra Party, Rastriya Swatantra Party, Shram Sanskriti Party, and Federal Democratic National Forum have each submitted a full list of 110 candidates.

Including these, a total of 3,213 candidates from 63 parties are contesting under the proportional system. An analysis of these candidates shows a serious imbalance in the proportional lists submitted by the parties.

Kathmandu district has the highest number of candidates on the list. Out of the 3,213 candidates, 234 are the residents of Kathmandu district. Morang ranks second with 137 candidates, followed by Jhapa with 126. Sunsari is fourth, with 111 candidates from various parties.

After that come districts of Madhesh Province: Saptari and Siraha each have 110 candidates, Dhanusha has 108, Sarlahi 105, and Bara 100. The lowest numbers are from Manang and Rasuwa, with three candidates each.

Mahottari has 95 candidates, Rautahat 88, Rupandehi 85, Kailali 84, Parsa 81, Banke 67, Lalitpur 66, and Makwanpur 62. Similarly, Bhaktapur has 59, Kapilvastu 58, Dang 56, Chitwan 53, and Kavrepalanchowk 51 candidates. Ten districts have fewer than 10 proportional candidates. Among them, Dadeldhura, Rukum West, and Baitadi have nine each; Rukum East has eight; Baitadi has six; Mustang, Dolpa, and Doti have five each; and Manang and Rasuwa have three each.

Women candidates also concentrated in Kathmandu

Out of the 3,213 candidates, 1,855 are women. Kathmandu again has the highest number. Of the 234 proportional candidates from Kathmandu, 143 are women—about 60 percent. In Morang, out of 76 proportional candidates, half are women.

Saptari leads in Dalit cluster

There are 441 candidates in the Dalit cluster, with Saptari having the highest number at 20. Neighboring districts Siraha has 13, Sunsari nine, and Udayapur six candidates.

Kathmandu ranks second in this cluster as well, with 18 candidates, followed by Dhanusha with 17, Kailali with 15, and Mahottari with 14. In Tanahun, out of 34 candidates, 12 belong to the Dalit cluster. Similarly, Jhapa has 11 Dalit candidates and Jumla has nine.

40 percent of Muslim candidates from 4 districts

In the Muslim cluster, there are 153 proportional candidates from 27 districts. Forty percent of them are from four Madhesh districts: Bara, Parsa, Rautahat, and Sarlahi. Bara has the highest number with 18 candidates, while Parsa and Rautahat have 16 each. Sunsari and Banke have 13 each, Sarlahi has 10, and Rupandehi and Kapilvastu have nine each.

Kailali ranks first in Tharu cluster

Among the 214 candidates in the Tharu cluster, Kailali has the highest number with 29 candidates. It is followed by Saptari with 22 and Dang with 21. Sunsari and Bardiya—districts with dense Tharu populations—have 16 candidates each. Bara and Kanchanpur have 12 each.

Dhanusha leads in Madheshi cluster

Dhanusha has the highest number of candidates in the Madheshi cluster. Out of 538 candidates in this cluster, 66 are from Dhanusha. This is followed by Saptari with 54, Siraha and Mahottari with 51 each. Similarly, Sarlahi has 49, Rautahat 47, Bara 46, and Parsa 38 candidates. From the Himalayan district of Solukhumbu, there is only one candidate in the Madheshi cluster.

In Khas-Arya cluster, Jhapa follows Kathmandu

In the Khas-Arya cluster, Kathmandu has 46 candidates, followed by Jhapa with 32. Morang has 26, Kalikot and Kailali have 20 each. Chitwan has 19, Banke 15, and Achham 11 candidates.

The Election Commission completed tasks such as cluster adjustment and candidate withdrawals and published the closed proportional list on January 18.

Voters wishing to file claims or objections regarding candidates’ eligibility were given time until January 24.

According to the Election Commission’s schedule, the final proportional list will be published on February 3.