EC presents certificates to State Assemblies PR candidates

Kathmandu, : The Election Commission (EC) has handed certificates to the members elected to the State Assemblies under the proportional representation (PR) system. 
Chief Election Commissioner (CEC) Dr Ayodhee Prasad Yadav presented the certificates to them amidst a ceremony on the EC premises today. The SA elections were held in two phases (on November 26 and December 7) last year together with the House of Representatives election. 
A total of 220 candidates--172 female and 48 male--have been elected to the SA under the PR system, according to EC Secretary Begendra Sharma Poudyal. 
Among them, 69 are from indigenous nationalities, 66 Khas Arya, 12 are Tharus, 29 Dalits, 37 Madhesi and seven are Muslims. A total of 41 political parties had taken part in the SA elections. 
As per the constitutional provision, in the 550-member SA, 330 were elected through the first-past-the-post system and remaining 220 have come through the PR system. 
Nepal Workers' and Peasants' Party's Srijana Saiju is the youngest PR candidate in the SA while Baladesh Sharma Pokhrel of Nepali Congress,78, is the senior most one. 
There are 37 candidates in the SA from the Province 1 while the representation from the Province 2 is 43. 
Likewise, the Province 3 has 44 members, Province 4 has 24, Province 5 has 35, Province 6 has 21 and remaining 16 are from the Province 7, the EC said.