CPN (Unified Socialist) leader Birodh Khatiwada has said that the party should be allotted seats on the basis of political decision and not its vote share in recent local election.
There have been claims that the ruling coalition has failed to decide sharing of seats due to higher demand by Unified Socialist. But talking with Setopati Khatiwada has refuted the accusation and pointed that all the parties are demanding more seats and no party is proposing to give more seats to another party.
The ruling coalition has decided to conclude sharing of seats on the basis of votes received in the recent local election and the last parliamentary election five years back. But Unified Socialist was part of CPN-UML that had allied with CPN (Maoist Center) with promise of post-election unification five years back.
“We don’t have experience of the election in 2017. We filed candidacy only in 27 percent of places even in the recent local election. Other parties also, therefore, agree that sharing of seats should be decided for Unified Socialist through political decision,” Khatiwada has argued.
Nepali Congress (NC) demanded candidacy in 100 out of 165 House of Representatives (HoR) seats to be elected through the first-past-the-post electoral system in the task force. CPN (Maoist Center) similarly staked claims for 60 seats, CPN (Unified Socialist) 40, Janata Samajwadi Party (JSP) 32 and Rastriya Janamorcha two.
Khatiwada has said that Unified Socialist can agree for 25 HoR seats. Other parties, however, have been pointing that its performance in the recent local election doesn’t warrant even 25 seats.