95 Vacant Seats Await By-elections Amidst Uncertainty

Kathmandu. Various 95 seats of people's representatives including National Assembly, Provincial Assembly and local level are vacant. It is uncertain whether by-elections will be held for these vacant seats.

According to the Election Commission, 1 National Assembly member, 19 Provincial Assembly members and 75 local level seats are vacant.

Assistant Spokesperson of the Commission, Prakash Neupane, informed that 95 seats where by-elections should be held are vacant. He informed that out of the local level seats, 2 District Coordination Committee chiefs, 10 mayors, 2 deputy mayors, 5 rural municipality chairpersons, 2 vice chairpersons and 54 ward chairpersons are vacant, totaling 75 seats.

This includes the post of Mayor of Kathmandu Metropolitan City. Balendra Shah, who became the Prime Minister after being elected from Jhapa-5 in the general election held on last Falgun 21 and winning, had resigned from the post of Mayor of Kathmandu Metropolitan City. The post of Renu Dahal, who resigned from the post of Mayor of Bharatpur Metropolitan City and was defeated after becoming a candidate from Chitwan-3 in the general election, is also vacant.

According to Neupane, 19 Provincial Assembly member seats are vacant in total across all 7 provinces. According to the commission's data, 6 seats are vacant in Bagmati, 3 in Koshi, 4 in Madhesh, 4 in Lumbini, 1 in Gandaki and 1 in Sudurpashchim.

One member seat under Sudurpashchim Province is vacant in the National Assembly. The seat became vacant after the death of Baldev Bohora, who was elected from the Nepali Congress. One seat nominated by the President on the recommendation of the Council of Ministers is also vacant in the National Assembly. Although the term of the member nominated by the President has ended, a new appointment has not been made.

It has been confirmed that by-elections will not be held for the remaining 75 seats in the local level. Since less than 1 year remains for the local level's new election and the law clearly states that by-elections are not held if there is less than 1 year remaining, it is certain that by-elections will not be held in the local level.

Local Level Election Act, 2073 clearly states that by-elections shall not be held if the remaining term is less than one year. Due to this provision of the law, it is certain that the 75 vacant seats in the local level will now remain vacant until the next local level election.

The five-year term of local level bodies elected in Baishakh 2079 will end in Baishakh 2084.

In case of a vacant Provincial Assembly member seat, the law provides for holding a by-election if the remaining term is more than 6 months. According to the Provincial Assembly Member Election Act, 2074, if the seat of any member elected under the first-past-the-post electoral system becomes vacant for any reason while the Provincial Assembly's term remains for more than 6 months, the vacant seat shall be filled by a by-election on a date determined by the Commission.

Since the election for Provincial Assembly members was held in Mangsir 2079 for a five-year term, there is still about one year and four months left for the election of Provincial Assembly members. Therefore, by-elections should be held for the vacant seats, but the government and the commission have not shown interest in it.

Spokesperson of the Election Commission, Joint Secretary Narayan Prasad Bhattarai, informed that the date for the by-election has not been set. "The date for the by-election has not been set yet," he told Ratopati, "The acting Chief Election Commissioner has gone on retirement. The process will move forward after the new commissioners arrive."

Spokesperson Bhattarai stated that the government has been formally informed about the vacant National Assembly member seat, and only verbally informed about the vacant Provincial Assembly members.