Six Parties Gain National Recognition After House Elections; Two Denied Chief Whip Perks Due to Seat Count
Kathmandu. Six parties have gained national recognition from the House of Representatives elections held on Falgun 21. A party receives national recognition if it secures at least one seat through the first-past-the-post system and 3 percent of the valid votes cast under the proportional representation system.
Six parties have met the criteria set in the law to achieve national party status. The Rastriya Swatantra Party, Nepali Congress, CPN-UML, Communist Party of Nepal, Shram Sanskriti Party, and Rastriya Prajatantra Party have succeeded in obtaining national party recognition.
The Act relating to the Remuneration and Facilities of the Office Bearers and Members of the Federal Parliament, 2073, stipulates that nationally recognized parties will receive additional service benefits from the government. However, due to the same act, the Shram Sanskriti Party and the Rastriya Prajatantra Party will not receive the benefits designated for a Chief Whip, despite achieving national recognition.
These two parties will not receive the Chief Whip's benefits because of the provision stated in Clause 2 (nya) of the Act. Clause (nya) states: 'The Chief Whip of a party shall mean a member of the said assembly designated by the leader of a party that has more than ten members in the House of Representatives to serve as the Chief Whip of that party.'
However, the Shram Sanskriti Party and the Rastriya Prajatantra Party have not reached the threshold of 10 seats. The Shram Sanskriti Party won 7 seats, and the Rastriya Prajatantra Party won 5 seats. This means they do not meet the criteria under the Act to receive the Chief Whip's facilities.
The Rastriya Swatantra Party, which became the largest party in the House of Representatives, won 182 seats, the Nepali Congress won 38, CPN-UML won 25, and the Communist Party of Nepal won 17 seats.
The Act stipulates that the Chief Whips of parties meeting the criteria for appointing a Chief Whip will receive vehicle facilities and two drivers of the first rank.
Schedule 2 of the Act mentions that the Chief Whip will also receive a separate office and one office assistant. The Chief Whip also receives an entertainment allowance. The Federal Parliament Secretariat provides the Chief Whip with a monthly allowance of NPR 15,000 for hospitality, as stipulated in the Act. The Act also allows the Chief Whip to appoint one person to the rank of Under Secretary for personal staff.
This specific news has been automatically translated by AI. As a result, there may be some inaccuracies or language errors.
