Forty-three days after the second phase of provincial elections, candidates elected under the proportional representation quota of state assemblies got their certificates from the Election Commission on Friday.

The poll authority, which was waiting for the appointment of provincial chiefs to announce the candidates elected under the PR category, had published their lists on Wednesday.

“The party has to select candidates from several clusters on the closed list by following the criteria for inclusion. People had been asking if I would be elected. This made me anxious,” Karima Begam, who got elected from Province 2 under the PR quota of the Sanghiya Samajbadi Forum-Nepal, summed up her experience of having to wait for so long.

Having collected her certificate, Begam, a former state minister, heaved a sigh of relief. She has set two priorities—working for the development of the province, and building pressure on the federal parliament for amending the constitution as demanded by the Madhesi community.

For Shova Shakya, a newly elected Province 3 Assembly member from the Bibeksheel Sajha Party, it is the first step of her party getting into the legislature. The new party failed to win even a single seat on the federal parliament.

With limited representation, her party will play the role of a constructive opposition in the province, she said. “We will support or protest against the provincial government based on merit.” Bibeksheel Sajha has won three seats in Provincial Assembly.

Despite facing a rout from the left alliance, elected Nepali Congress representatives for Province 1 feel they will have to put up a strong opposition. Leela Subba, newly elected PR lawmaker from Province 1, said she would work for development of the region and people’s well being. Hailing from Dhankuta, she also promised to make the town the provincial headquarters. Protests are raging in the eastern regional headquarters after the government named Biratnagar as the temporary provincial centre.

Another Congress lawmaker for Province 1, Navodita Chaudhary said she would focus on making the province prosperous.

“The province has a huge potential for tourism, agriculture and industry. As a lawmaker, I will play my role,” she said.

The Election Commission distributed certificates to as many as 178 provincial lawmakers, out of the 220 elected under the PR category, on Friday. The remaining candidates can collect the certificates personally later, according to an EC official.

Most of the provincial lawmakers elected under the PR system are women, with the parties failing to elect enough female legislators under the first-past-the-post category. Of the total PR lawmakers, 172 are women.

Srijana Sayaju, 26, is the youngest lawmaker elected under the proportional representation category in Province 3 from the Nepal Majdoor Kisan Party while Baldev Sharma Pokharel of the NC, 78, is the oldest lawmaker from Province 5, according to the EC.