Kathmandu, October 11

Other parties of the six-member task force, created to forge a democratic alliance under the Nepali Congress, want the largest party to decide on allocation of provincial and parliamentary First-Past-the-Post constituencies at the earliest.

General Secretary of the Federal Socialist Forum-Nepal Ram Sahay Yadav, who is a member of the six-party task force from his party and Rastriya Janata Party-Nepal have jointly submitted their demands to the Nepali Congress and they are eagerly awaiting the NC’s response.

The NC, FSF-N, RJP-N, Rastriya Prajatantra Party, RPP-Democratic and Nepal Democratic Forum had formed a task force on October 5 to expedite formation of a democratic alliance.

“We want to finalise the names of our FPTP candidates first and we also need to allocate FPTP constituencies between our party and the RJP-N after the NC allocates FPTP constituencies for us, but the NC has not decided on the allocation of seats yet,” Yadav said, adding that the NC was finalising its PR candidates first and therefore, the party was taking time to finalise the allocation of FPTP seats among the constituents of the democratic alliance.

According to a source, the FSF-N has demanded more than 60 parliamentary FPTP constituencies in the Tarai

districts.

Buddhiman Tamang, who represents RPP in the task force, said his party had sought 15 parliamentary FPTP constituencies. “We are waiting to hear from the NC on constituency division among democratic alliance partners. I hope the NC takes a decision soon on allocation of FPTP constituencies,” Tamang said and added that his party would be flexible in the seat-sharing negotiation.

Co-chair of Nepal Democratic Forum Ram Janam Chaudhari said his party had sought 20 parliamentary FPTP seats from the NC.

RPP-D leader Kiran Giri said his party had sought 15 parliamentary FPTP seats and had received positive assurances from the NC. “The NC has agreed to give FPTP constituencies in the districts we had won in the second CA elections.

The NC has also agreed to leave   Sindhupalchowk constituency for party Chair Pashupati Shamsher JB Rana,” Giri said. In almost all elections, Rana has contested from a constituency in Sindhupalchowk district.

He said his party had sought 15 constituencies mainly on the basis of the proportional votes his party had received in the second Constituent Assembly elections held in 2013.

NC leader Bimalendra Nidhi, who is coordinator of the task force, said his party was busy with the selection of PR candidates and once that got over, the party would finalise allocation of FPTP seats. Nidhi said the democratic forces were determined to form a democratic alliance and FPTP constituency division would not be a big issue. “Every party wants to have more FPTP constituencies, but when they sit together, they will certainly be ready to compromise,” he added.