Valley
EC to hand over election results to President today
The country may get a new government within a few days as the Election Commission is planning to hand over results of the House of Representatives elections to the President on Wednesday.Prithvi Man Shrestha
The country may get a new government within a few days as the Election Commission is planning to hand over results of the House of Representatives elections to the President on Wednesday.
After receiving the correct list of candidates from some parties, the EC will announce the results of the Lower House under the proportional representation category on Wednesday, according to EC officials. “The results will then be handed over to the President on the same day,” an official said.
The left alliance, comprising the CPN-UML and CPN (Maoist Centre), which has secured a majority vote in the elections is expected to form the next government. While the unification process of the two left parties are said to be in advanced stage, it is yet unclear whether the next government would be formed before the unification.
“Our objective is to form the government in a few days after declaring party unification,” said senior UML leader Jhala Nath Khanal. However, it may take several days to get the unified party certified by the Election Commission as per the Act on political parties.
Clause 10 (2) of the Act says the parties going for unification will have to apply at the EC within 45 days of unification agreement with documents—agreement papers, statutes and decision of the central committees.
However, under Clause 10 (4) of the same Act, the EC may take 45 days from the date of application to certify a merger. That means the two parties may still be
considered separate outfits technically even if they announce merger within the next few days.
As such, the unified party may not form the government as per Article 76 (1) of the constitution. As per this article, the President shall appoint the leader of a parliamentary party that commands a majority in the HoR as prime minister.
As no political party has a clear majority in the HoR, the UML and Maoist Centre will have to go for the government formation as per Article 76 (2). In this case, the President shall appoint a member of the Lower House as prime minister who commands a majority with the support of two or more parties.
But Khanal maintains that these processes would not affect the government formation process.