Kathmandu, January 31, 2007

Prime Minister Girija Prasad Koirala today announced to increase the number of parliamentary Constituencies from 205 to address the demand for enhanced representation from Terai-centric political outfits.

In an address aired by NTV, Koirala, however, made it clear that no district would face seat cut. He also made a commitment to switch over to federal system once the new constitution is drafted following constituent assembly polls.

Koirala attributed his latest announcement to the need to “ensure participation of all in the task of nation-building”. He invited the aggrieved parties to resolve the crises through talks. “My doors are always open.

Anyone can come for talks. Let us solve the problems you may have,” Koirala said. Saying that nation’s problems should be solved by Nepalis themselves, Koirala recalled how Maoists were called for talks. Referring to the week-long demonstrations, he said they could be attributed to transitional phase the nation was passing through.

He added that the momentous changes that had overtaken the nation resulted in simultaneous rise in aspirations and emotions. He said he had told the Home Minister to form a team to hold talks to end Terai unrest, adding that agitation should end once the talks begin.

“Let us create an atmosphere of goodwill.” The address came without the eight-parties coming up with any joint understanding. Yesterday’s meeting had ended inconclusively.

Nepal Sadbhavana Party (A) is expected to react to Koirala’s offer tomorrow after the party central leadership discusses its pros and cons.

40 additional constituencies likely

Considering the population growth over the years, it is likely that around 20 more constituencies could be added to the 205 constituencies, the election for which will be held on the first -past- the-post basis. A similar number of seats could also be added to 204 seats.

The interim constitution needs to be amended to add more constituencies meant for the constituent assembly. PM in his address today said the constituencies would be “delimited” and “increased” based on “similar population” and “geographical feature” and “expediency”.

Defining ‘similar population,’ Dr Minendra Rijal, a central leader of the NC(D) and lawmaker, said on the average, there would be one constituency for a population of 1,15000.

“But this principle cannot be applied to the sparsely-populated district like Manang, where the total population is just 9,000 and the region is completely different from the rest of the country,” Rijal said.

“Geographical features and expediency cannot be ignored while delimiting the constituencies,” Rijal said.