Raising vote threshold essential for political stability: Shankar Pokharel

Kathmandu: CPN-UML General Secretary Shankar Pokharel has stated that political instability has increased due to the constitutional requirement of a 3 percent threshold of votes for a party to be recognized as a national party. At a press conference organized by Press Chautari Dang in Ghorahi on Tuesday, Pokharel explained that an amendment to the Constitution is necessary to raise this threshold percentage because the current provision has contributed to greater political instability.

Pokharel emphasized that, because the Constitution requires only a three percent threshold for national party status, there is a need to amend it to increase this percentage in response to the growing political instability.

He noted that amending the Constitution cannot be done unilaterally and that support from the Congress party is needed.

Pokharel also claimed that the bargaining by small parties during the formation of the government leads to instability and that the UML is working to address this issue. He highlighted that the UML and Congress formed an alliance and shared power in the government aimed at ensuring the stability of democracy.