In a session conducted on September 20, 2018, chairpersons of the ten parliamentary thematic committees were elected unopposed and six women from the ruling Nepal Communist Party (NCP) alone secured the positions for committees under the House of Representatives.

Niru Devi Pal, Shashi Shrestha, Kalyani Khadka, Purna Kumari Subedi, Pabitra Kharel Niraula and Jayapuri Gharti were among the elected.

With this, the number of federal parliament committees led by women grows to eight.

On the other hand, the National Assembly will also have parliamentary committees led by women.

In total, the Federal Parliament has 16 thematic committees with 10 in the House of Representatives and four in the National Assembly and two joint ones.

Elected female lawmakers are looking at this development as a step to fulfilling the constitutional requirements that mandate active women participation in the country’s policy-making.

Shashi Shrestha, one of the elected lawmakers, feels that the proper implementation of the constitutional provision has begun with this development.

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Be it in terms of political transformation, participation at global-level events, victories at international-level competitions, 2017 has really been a game changer year for Nepal.

Now, let’s take a closer look at Nepal’s developments and major happenings in 2074 that contributed to the country’s overall progress:

Politics

Politics is one area that Nepal has received a major global traction from in the year 2074.

The country saw its long-awaited political transformation during the year through key local body and provincial and parliamentary elections.

The three-tier local body elections on May 14, June 28 and September 19 and the two-phase most important general elections for provincial and parliamentary seats on November 26 and December 7 brought in various landmark changes in the country’s political scenario.

Local body polls, considered as a first step towards long-awaited political change, was the first such election held in Nepal in the last 20 years. This election witnessed an active participation from all sections of Nepali society including women, youth and elderly, registering a record voter turnout and getting a due response for Nepal from the world governments.

Then, the provincial and parliamentary elections held in two phases really shook the country’s political landscape shifting the power from the then ruling Nepali Congress into the hands of the Communist Alliance (CPM and CPN-UML).

While the first phase of the election was held across 37 constituencies of the House of Representatives and 74 provincial assembly constituencies, the second phase covered a total of 45 districts of the Terai and hill areas for electing a total of 128 seats for the House of Representatives and 256 provincial assembly seats.

Finally, Nepal now has the Communist government led by the Prime Minister KP Sharma Oli.

Also Read
Oli is Back Again As 41st Nepal PM
Local Polls 2017: An All-round Applause for Nepal
Nepal General Elections 2017: Successful Participation of Citizens, Parties and Voters Observed

Bilateral Ties

Bilateral ties is one key aspect that matters a lot for any country when it comes to dealing with external relations.

Nepal has made many major moves in this regard in 2017, which strengthened the country’s global position in terms of diplomatic ties.

With regard to fresh establishment, Nepal signed diplomatic ties with the State of Eritrea, Uzbekistan, Benin, Uganda, Bahamas, among other countries.

Besides, the country has also gone a step forward in taking ahead the ties with its existing partners.

In 2017, Nepal celebrated decades of its friendship with many countries like US, India, Sri Lanka, among others. Some of the major developments in this regard include:

• Nepal and India celebrated 70 years of friendship in 2017 amid grand celebrations at the Indian Cultural Centre, Embassy of India in Kathmandu on February 10, 2018…Read More
• Nepal and US also completed 70 years of their friendship on December 13, 2017, pledging for strong economic cooperation and enhancement of trade cooperation between the two countries…Read More
• Nepal has also completed 60 years of its friendship with Sri Lanka on December 19, 2017, wherein, both the countries increased collaboration across regional and multilateral platforms…Read More
• The Federation of Nepalese Chambers of Commerce and Industry (FNCCI) and the Austrian Federal Economic Chamber (AFEC) have also signed a MoU on October 31, 2017 for increased trade and business cooperation between the two nations…Read More
• Nepal and Brazil have also formed the six-member Brazil-Nepal Parliamentary Group on November 29, 2017 for enhancing the diplomatic ties between the two countries…Read More
• The Government of Nepal has also signed an agreement for the formation of a bilateral consultation mechanism with the Government of Morocco…Read More
• Nepal and Pakistan have also discussed strong SAARC and regional cooperation on March 05, 2018…Read More
• Nepal and Zambia have also discussed cooperation for investment in various sectors in a meeting held on February 09, 2018…Read More

Overall, 2074 has been a successful year for Nepal with regard to strengthening its global position through external relations.

Economy

Nepali economy saw a positive trend in 2074 as evident in the World Economic Forum (WEF)’s assessment report that called Nepal as the third fastest-growing economy in the world.

By economic growth projection of 7.5 percent, Nepal ranked third after Ethiopia (8.3 percent) and Uzbekistan (7.6 percent) for the year.

In its another report- Inclusive Development Index (IDI) 2018 in South Asia, WEF positioned Nepal at the top of the list of South Asian countries in terms of inclusive development. Globally, Nepal stood at the 22^nd position among 74 countries in the survey that analyzed 103 economies by growth and development, inclusion, and inter-generational equity.

With a 4.15 score, Nepal was also featured between slowly-advancing and rapidly-advancing nations in the emerging economies category.

With hope on increasing revenues, the Government of Nepal also has big budget plans for the
FY 2018-19, i.e. at around Rs 1,570 billion.

The Ministry of Revenue, Nepal expects a 30 percent rise in revenue collection in the FY 2018-19 at around Rs 950 billion, which is Rs 220 billion above the current fiscal target. The government is also planning to boost revenue generation through domestic debt to Rs 153 billion.

Besides, the government is also expecting an additional Rs 286 billion in foreign investment.

Entertainment

Entertainment is another interest aspect that brought global attention to Nepal in 2074.

In 2074, Nepali movies performed well at the global-level film festivals and the country has also hosted many film festival events. Some of the related major happenings that drew wide public attention include:

• Nepal-America International Film Festival 2017 for connecting Nepali and American films
• Newari Film Festivalfor the promotion of Newari films
• Nepal Africa Film Festival 2017 featuring films of various languages
• Film Southasia 2017, a festival of South Asian documentaries
• Nepali Indigenous Film Festival in New York
• National Film Development Board (NFDB) Special Film Awards, to name a few.

2074 majorly saw Nepali Director Deepak Rauniyar being featured as one among ‘The 9 New Directors You Need to Watch’ for his films- Highway and White Sun.

Sports

Nepal has always been active in sports and is also unique for Dandi Biyo, the country’s traditional sport and national sport until 2017, a significant period for Nepali sports.

It was in 2017 that the then Government of Nepal took a historic decision of officially declaring Volleyball as Nepal’s national sport replacing the traditional Dandi Biyo.

Though the discussions over volleyball as national sport began long back, the official declaration was made on May 23, 2017.

A major milestone for Nepali sports in 2017 was seen in the form of cricket, wherein, the Nepali teams proved their dashing performance at various international-level cricket tournaments.

Nepali cricket teams (U-19, U-16 and national cricket team) left their special mark at various international-level cricket tournaments.

Some of the key international-level sports events where Nepal made its mark include:

• ACC U16 Cricket Eastern Region Championship – Champion
• ACC U-19 Youth Asia Cup 2017– Moved to semi-finals
• ACPL T20 Trophy – Champion, to name a few
• World Martial Peace Cup 2017 – Won two gold and three silver medals
• International Wheelchair Basketball Tournament – Bagged Men’s title
• World Powerlifting Championship– Bagged Silver and Bronze medals
• International Taekwondo Championship – Six Gold medals
• World Junior Judo Championship – First time participation

Nepal also entered into the world of T20 cricket in 2017. The country organized its first-ever Twenty20 cricket premier league called Everest Premier League (EPL) at the Tribhuvan University (TU) Stadium.

Continuing the success track, Nepali cricket crossed more key milestones in the start of 2018:

• For the first time in its history, Nepal secured ODI status on March 15, 2018 after a dashing win against Papua New Guinea (PNG) in the ICC Cricket World Cup Qualifier play-off match at the Old Hararians Sports Club in Zimbabwe.
• Secured its place in the 2019 cricket World Cup Qualifier tournament
• Sandeep Lamichhane became the country’s first Nepali cricketer in Indian Premier League (IPL) and Caribbean Premier League (CPL) Twenty20 tournaments.
• Nepali Expatriate Football Team made it to semi-finals in the 6^th Asian Non-Resident Football Tournament

Overall, 2074 (2017) was a successful year for Nepal. Let’s hope for more bigger events in 2075.

Culture

As in every year, Nepal celebrated its annual cultural festivals on a grand scale in 2074 as well, in fact, on a bigger scale.

Nepal’s biggest festival season including festivals such as Dashain, Tihar and Chhath stood as the cultural highlight of the year among other unique Nepali festivals like Kanya Puja– The Festival of Young Girls, Gaijatra– The Festival of Cows, Indra Jatra– The Street Festival.

Other major culture-related highlights of Nepal that made headlines in in 2074 include:

• Nepal got its new living goddess
• Nepal Academy, a national center for promotion of Nepali language, literature, culture and philosophy,held its 32^nd Academic Assembly to formulate policies and regulations for the effective functioning of the organization for promotion of Nepali language and culture
• A group of 36 Nepalis embarked on a two-week-long journey touring India and Nepal towards promoting Indo-Nepal cultural tourism
• Nepal Music Festival – An event to promote Nepali music and culture

Besides, the Government of Nepal has also discussed strengthening of cultural exchanges and ties with foreign nations during various bilateral meetings during the year.

Tourism

Nepal has a special place for tourism as evident in the country’s status as one of the most-sought global tourism destinations.

Some of the key highlights pertaining to Nepali tourism in 2074 include:

• The Nepali Embassy in Sri Lanka organized Nepal Night, a tourism promotion program called ‘Nepal Night’ in Colombo on December 15, 2017 to promote Nepal tourism
• A week-long tourism promotion activity by the Nepal Sales Mission to Colombo (Sri Lanka) and Bangalore (India) during December 14-21, 2017
• World Travel Market (WTM) 2017, global tourism expo held at ExCel London, a London-based exhibition and international convention center, called Nepal as an ‘Exotic Holiday Gateway’
• 7-month long Annapurna Sanctuary Tourism Festival 2074 has been launched on October 11, 2017 with a total planned investment of Rs 15 million
• Nepal Tourism Board (NTB) laid special focus on domestic tourism as part of the country’s tourism season in 2017 (October-November)
• Religious tourism at Pashupati reported a rise during the 2003-17 period
• Nepal Tourism reached nearly 1 million tourist arrival target with 940,218 arrivals at the end of December 2017

Overall, tourism sector saw an upward trend in the current year and is hoping big for the future.

Events & Conferences

Nepal hosted and participated in a good number of international and national level events and conferences that brought a wide global attention to the country in 2074. Some of them include:

• International celebrities such as former US Ambassador to Nepal Scott DeLisi, the legendary mountaineer and TV personality Russell Brice, and national celebrities such as Manisha Koirala joined the Nepal Fire Expedition on November 2017
• Globally-renowned social welfare organization Street Child organized an International Marathon for Social Welfare on November 2017
• Non-Resident Nepalis (NRN) met for the 8^th General Assembly of the Non-Resident Nepali Association (NRNA) International General Assembly and Global Conferenceon October 2017
• In a move promoting domestic tourism, Nepal’s most famous annual Elephant Festival 2017 was held in Chitwan on December 2017 with the participation of over 50 elephants
• Two international photo exhibitions namely, ‘Nepal through Australian volunteers’ lens’ and ‘International Photography Competition on Nepal’ were held marking the International Volunteer Day 2017 and to promote Nepal tourism, respectively
• National Women Rights Forum (NWRF) Nepal, ActionAid International and Asmita Women’s Publishing House jointly organized the National Women Conference 2017 in December 2017
• Towards encouraging women participation in local governance across South Asia, the All Nepal Women’s Association organized a two-day South Asian Women’s Conference in Kathmandu in August 2017
• UNSC debate on Women, Peace and Security in New York in October 2017
• Asian Junior Weightlifting Championship in July 2017
• Biggest Online Food Festival in December 2017
• 4-day Global Conference on Climate Change on climate change concerns in Hindu Kush mountain range
• Nepal Chamber Expo 2017 that made a Rs 50 million business
• Nepal raises its key concerns at the 72^nd United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) and also signs Nuclear Prohibition Treaty

Immigration

As a country with more number of expatriate population, Nepal holds high significance for immigration sector.

Here are some of Nepal’s major immigration updates in 2074:

• In a move supporting Nepali migrants in Jordan, the Governments of Nepal and Jordan agreed to form a joint technical committee to implement the Bilateral Labor Agreement (BLA), the pact that ensures protection Nepali migrant labor in Jordan
• Towards addressing health concerns of migrants, the Nepali Ministry of Health, UN Migration Agency and the International Organization for Migration (IOM) discussed implementation of the National Migration Health Policy (NMHP) in October 2017
• US Government invited applications for the United States’ 2019 electronic Diversity Visa (DV) program from Nepali immigrants in October 2017
• The Government of Nepal, on September 11, 2017, decided to issue native passports to the Nepali children born in foreign nations
• United Nations’ first-ever study of a 10-year trend in migration and remittance flows over the 2007-2016 period named Nepal named as the top remittance-dependent nation; Remittances make up 32 percent of GDP
• Nepalese travelling to Japan for employment on rise, form the largest South Asian and the sixth largest foreign populace living in Japan
• Nepalese form the fastest growing community in Australia with an annual growth of around 27 percent
• Nepali Labor Ministry pitches for skill development among migrants at the 331^st governing board meeting of ILO in Geneva, in November 2017
• Nepal and Bahrain discussed labor cooperation at a bilateral meeting in Bahraini capital, Manama in December 2017

Besides, there is an increasing trend of more number of Nepali youth preferring foreign destinations for career opportunities. On the other hand, the Government of Nepal is also under plans to generate more opportunities, locally.

Technology

In the fast-growing digital world, technology is one key aspect for the development of any society.

Nepal is also majorly catching up this trend as evident in some of technology-driven initiatives in the country in 2074, which include:

• To ensure next-generation air traffic control at the airports, the Civil Aviation Authority of Nepal (CAAN) introduced an advanced radar system at Bhatte Danda of Lalitpur district to monitor Nepal’s Air Traffic Control (ATC)
• Digital Nepal: Nepal Goes Digital in TV Broadcasting
• A group of Nepali engineers introduced the country’s first-of-its-kind smart wheelchair to help physically challenged
• Nepal’s first electronic Intensive Care Unit (e-ICU) facility was inaugurated at the Vayodha Hospital
• Reputed banks express their willingness to play a vital role in revolutionizing Nepali eCommerce sector through new technology-driven digital platforms
• Nepal’s first IT Park in Banepa resurges after years of inactivity
• Ministry of Health announces technology-driven health apps, mHealth and eHealth, services to the public
• Nepal gets STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics) laboratory in Kanjirowa National Secondary School at Koteshwor

Besides, these Nepal has been welcoming many technology giants and has also gone to a far extent in internet and mobile adoption, thus turning as a fast-emerging market for technology adoption.

The End Note

Overall, 2074 has really been a year of transformation for Nepal in all the aforementioned aspects adding to the country’s future progress. Hope the country would reach much greater heights in the years to come!

Also Read:
Nepal 2017 Highlights: Politics and Bilateral Relations
Nepal 2017 Highlights: Culture And Tourism Highlights
Nepal 2017 Highlights: Immigration and Other Major Updates
Nepal 2017 Highlights: Hydropower Potential Grows Three-fold with 16 New Projects

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The event, organized by the Indian Embassy in Kathmandu, saw the participation of around 1,500 guests including Indian Ambassador to Nepal Manjeev Singh Puri, Nepali PM Sher Bahadur Deuba among various other Nepali  political leaders, public personalities, cultural experts, mission staffers and foreign dignitaries.

In a message to the Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Deuba congratulated his Indian counterpart on the 69^th Republic Day and expressed willingness towards taking ahead the Indo-Nepal bilateral ties to a much greater level.

Deuba opined that the regular high-level exchanges between the two sides have strengthened the Indo-Nepal diplomatic relations.

The event also saw various cultural and musical performances by various Nepali youth.

Event Highlights

On the occasion, Ambassador Puri presented 30 ambulances and six buses to various charity organizations, hospitals and educational institutions of Nepal.

The official also announced a book grant to 41 Nepali educational institutions and libraries towards ensuring education material to the students in the remote parts of the country.

The Defense wing of the Embassy also unveiled a magazine called Bhu Puu-2017 that speaks about welfare initiatives of the Indian Government for ex-servicemen domiciled in Nepal.

The day also marks the completion of 70 years of Indo-Nepal bilateral relations.

Speaking on the occasion, Puri said the two countries should work on enhancing trade, business and connectivity.

“As a democratic country, India should recognize the achievements made by Nepal,” he added.

He also informed about recent conversations between the Indian and Nepali top leadership towards strengthening bilateral relations between the two countries.

A Trip on Political Agenda

With the communist alliance almost ready to form the new Nepal Government, Indian external Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj is embarking on a bilateral visit to Nepal to discuss political matters.

The visit, planned in the first week of February 2018, marks the first high-level visit of a foreign visitor to Nepal post the conclusion of Nepal’s long-awaited 2017 elections.

“We have sensed that India wants to improve its ties with UML. We need to wait for her message. We don’t know yet what kind of message she will be carrying with her, what priorities Indian wants to set regarding Nepal and what course the relations are desired to take,” says UML leader Pradeep Gyawali referring to the Sushma Swaraj.

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Fighting back social challenges and natural calamities, Nepal, in 2017, made major strides in almost all areas including inclusive development, industry and commerce, economy, politics, human rights, among various others.

Here are some of the key highlights of major developments in Nepal in 2017:

Bilateral Ties and Key Pacts

2017 has been a prosperous year for Nepal in building its image in the global arena through diplomatic ties.

On December 19, 2017, Nepal completed 60 years of its diplomatic relations with Sri Lanka.

US Ambassador to Nepal Alaina B Teplitz (In Right)

The United States Embassy also celebrated 70 years of US-Nepal bilateral relationship on December 13, 2017.

Besides strengthening existing ties, Nepal also began its diplomatic relations with nations such as State of Eretria, Uganda and Kingdom of Bahamas.

Very recently, a new friendship association to boost Nepal-Myanmar diplomatic ties was also formed. The Myanmar-Nepal Friendship Association is the first such group formed since the establishment of diplomatic ties between the two countries in 1960.

Nepal also signed bilateral partnerships with various countries for cooperation across different sectors.

Nepali Foreign Secretary Shankar Das Bairagi and the Ambassador of Morocco to Nepal Mohamed Maliki signed a MoU for the formation of a bilateral consultation mechanism between Nepal and Morocco on August 3, 2017.

Nepal has also signed a Bilateral Labor Agreement with Jordan on October 18, 2017.

         Indian Businessmen Invited to Invest in Nepal

The Government of India also promised its investment in the Nepali industry.

In response, the Government of Nepal has very recently welcomed the Indian business community to invest in Nepal.

“It’s an opportune time to invest in Nepal with bilateral trade on the upswing,” says Embassy of Nepal Charge d’Affairs Bharat Kumar Regmi.

Japan and the United States also promised assistance and funding for the development of Nepali education sector.

In a move enhancing its diplomatic ties with Nepal, the Parliament of Brazil has also formed a six-member Brazil-Nepal Parliamentary Group.

This is the first such Group in the history of Nepal-Brazil ties and is formed as a result of the recently-approved statute to promote inter-parliamentary cooperation between the two countries.

In a recent meeting on December 25, 2017, Oman and Nepal discussed bilateral cooperation across various sectors, wherein, the Under Secretary of the Ministry of Commerce & Industry of Oman Ahmed Hassan Al-Dheeb welcomed collaboration with the Nepali business community across various sectors.

Earlier, Nepal had also expressed willingness to send its labor to work in Oman thus enhancing the Oman-Nepal labor cooperation.

With an aim to boost the Nepal-Austria bilateral ties, the Federation of Nepalese Chambers of Commerce and Industry (FNCCI) and the Austrian Federal Economic Chamber (AFEC) had also signed a MoU on October 31, 2017.

The new collaboration will focus on enhancing private sector collaboration for promoting trade, commerce and technology transfer between the two countries.

Here, it is noteworthy that the leftist alliance, which will form the next Nepali Government, has recently announced that the new Nepali Government will maintain Nepal’s diplomatic relations with neighboring nations based on independent foreign policy.

Politics

2017 has changed the political landscape of Nepal and has, in fact, emerged as the game-changer year for the country.

Local-level polls and legislative polls, the most-awaited elections for Nepal and its citizens, were successfully held in 2017. These elections were held in the country for the first time in the last 20 years.

The local polls were held in three phases with the first two phases on May 14 and June 28, and the third phase on September 18, 2017.

Another major milestone for Nepal is the two-phase country’s parliamentary and provincial polls held on November 26, 2017 and December 7, 2017, respectively. In this election, Nepali politics saw major political shifts with the Communist alliance winning the game finally to form the next government.

Interestingly, the red flag (left parties) registered grand victory in both the landmark polls of Nepal.

Next

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However, the communist parties’ cabinet seat-sharing has been a matter of discussion since the time results were announced.

As per the latest update, the two parties are most likely to go on for a 60:40 ratio in seat sharing (the same ratio implemented for fielding candidates) if their discussions do not materialize before the formation of the new Nepali Government.

UML is reportedly keen on offering 30 percent cabinet seats to its ally MC based on the number of seats the party won in the recently-concluded polls.

According to Senior MC party leader Narayan Kaji Shrestha, the announcement of Proportional Representation (PR) seats will give a needed boost to the process of new government formation.

“Otherwise, there is no alternative but to reach a deal with the Nepali Congress (on the ordinance forwarded for National Assembly election),” Narayan added.

It will take at least two weeks to form the new government even after allotment of PR seats, says UML leader Rinal.

The discussions over announcement of Khadga Prasad Oli as the next Nepali PM was also halted due to row over the formation of new National Assembly.

“The meeting of the party unification coordination committee will begin as soon as Dahal returns from Chitwan, may be on Tuesday evening or Wednesday,” informed UML Secretary Pradeep Gyawali.

This update gains significance in view of UML’s recent announcement over formation of new Nepali Government most likely by the end of December 2017.

Provincial Council Results

Meanwhile, Nepal Election Commission (EC) has made another major announcement regarding Nepal’s landmark parliamentary and provincial polls.

EC, on December 22, 2017, announced the results of country’s Provincial Council (PC) elections under the Proportional Representation (PR) system.

The seats allocation under PC saw CPN-UML leading with 75 seats followed by Nepali ruling Congress with 72 seats.

While CPN-MC won 35 seats, Federal Democratic Forum (FDF) bagged 13 seats followed by Rastriya Janata Party-Nepal (RJP-Nepal) that got 12 seats.

Parliamentary PR Results in Two Days

The results of the parliamentary polls under PR system are likely to be announced very soon.

According to the EC Spokesperson Navaraj Dhakal, the PR unit functioning under EC will finish the Parliamentary PR seat allocation in the next two days. “We will unveil the result of Parliamentary PR elections as soon as possible,” informed Dhakal.

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The FPTP election vote count for 165 House of Representatives (HoR) and 330 Provincial Assembly (PA) seats declared the victory of the Communist Party of Nepal (CPN)-Unified Marxist-Leninist (UML) in the recent polls.

With 80 HoR seats & 167 PA seats by UML and 36 HoR & 74 PA seats by its poll partner CPN (Maoist Centre), the left alliance finally emerged as the single largest party as per the FPTP results.

With this, the ruling Nepali Congress (NC) could find its presence only in 23 HoR and 41 PA constituencies, followed by Rastriya Janata Party-Nepal (RJP-Nepal) that received 11 HoR and 16 PA seats.

While the independents proved their presence in 1 HoR constituency and 3 PA constituencies, 6 women candidates made it to HoR.

According to EC, the vote counting of both HoR and National Assembly has come to final stages with 164 parliamentary and 329 provincial representatives elected so far in the polls held for 165 parliamentary and 330 provincial seats.

PR Counting Underway

Overall, the left alliance won 116 of 165 FPTP seats for HoR and was leading the Proportional Representation (PR) count, held for 60 districts, for 110 seats.

Out of the 7,684,328 PR votes counted so far, “CPN-UML has so far secured 2,631,991 votes followed by NC (2,546,069), CPN-MC (1,045,446), Federal Socialist Forum Nepal (351,525) and the RJP-Nepal (295,448),” informed Nepal Election Commission (EC) Spokesperson Nawaraj Dhakal.

The PR vote counting is currently underway in around 17 districts and the final PR result is expected by December 15, 2017 evening.

Once the parties submit their HoR winners under PR category, EC will take the process ahead to President for further approval before making the list public.

Decline in Women Representatives

The number of directly-elected women to the HoR seats under the FPTP category has decreased this time as only 6 women candidates made it to HoR.

This number indicates a gradual decline in women representatives in Nepali elections over a period.

While the first Constituent Assembly (CA) elections in 2008 saw 30 women representatives, the number declined to 10 in 2013 CA elections, and now it has come down to 6.

This situation lies in contrast to the constitutional rules that recommend 33 percent women representatives in the House.

This time, only three parties including CPN-UML, CPN-MC and Rastriya Janamorcha the winning female candidates.

While UML had only 3 female winners in a total of 80 FPTP seats, CPN-MC also saw a similar number among its 36 total FPTP winners.

Meanwhile, the ruling NC party saw the failure of its 9 female candidates fielded for HoR seats.

Brainstorming Begins

With the results announced, now the winner leftist alliance is brainstorming on the formation of the new Nepali government with key discussions on power-sharing, among others.

According to the senior left leaders, KP Oli, UML Chairman and the next PM of Nepal (likely), and the MC Chairman Pushpa Kamal Dahal, also called Prachanda, are likely to hold discussions during December 14-15, 2017 over the formation of new government at the Center.

While some experts feel the formation of central government will be possible only after Assembly results, UML feels that the Assembly (Upper House) election will not be an issue and aims at the formation by the end of December 2017.

Following the formation, the President will call for the first Federal Parliament session under the new government, within 30 days of the declaration of final results of HoR as recommended by the Nepali Constitution.

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While 157 of the total 165 House of Representatives seats were announced so far under the First-Past-The-Post (FPTP) election, the leftist alliance alone garnered a total of 106 seats.

Of this, the Communist Parties of Nepal Unified Marxist-Leninist (CPN-UML) won the highest number of 74 seats followed by CPN-Maoist Centre (MC) that won 32 seats, informed the Election Commission on December 11, 2017.

With the left alliance moving towards forming majority in the Nepali Parliament, the Communist Alliance is projecting the erstwhile Prime Minister and the communist party leader Khadga Prasad Oli as its Prime Minister candidate.

Oli won from the Jhapa-5 constituency with more than 28,000 votes against the Nepali Congress candidate Khagendra Adhikari. Oli bagged 57,139 votes in total, the highest number of votes secured by any contestant in this election.

CPN Chairman Pushpa Kumar Dahal, another name in PM’s race, got elected to the Federal Parliament from the Chitwan-3 constituency for his win against the Rastriya Prajatantra Party (RPP) candidate Bikram Pandey with 48, 276 votes.

Meanwhile, the current Prime Minister Sher Bahadur Deuba registered victory in the Dadeldhura-1 constituency against Khaga Raj Bhatta of CPN with 28, 044 votes.

Rajendra Mahato from Dhanusa-3 constituency with 30, 742 votes, Upendra Yadav from Saptari-2 constituency with 21,620 votes, Gagan Thapa from Kathmandu-4 constituency with 21, 558 votes were among others who got elected to the Nepali Federal Parliament.

With Communist alliance leading the race, experts feel Oli could be the next Prime Minister of Nepal.

“We can expect Oli to lead a stable government with the Maoists as strong allies. Once there is a political stability, he can implement a development agenda and attract foreign investment,” opines Bipin Adhikari, a constitutional expert.

Meanwhile, in Proportional Representation (PR) category, UML stands leading with 936,442 votes, followed by Nepali Congress (NC) in the second position with 878,824 votes and CPN-MC in the third position with 385,434 votes.

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The two-phase Nepal’s parliamentary and provincial elections 2017 was a three-way fight among the democratic alliance led by the ruling Nepali Congress party, the Madhes-based parties’ alliance called Rastriya Janata Party and the leftist alliance of CPN-UML and Maoist Center parties.

The counting results of the First-Past-The-Post (FPTP) election of the Provincial Assemblies and House of Representatives of 16 districts, released on December 10, 2017, have shown victory for the communist alliance in 70 federal and 134 provincial constituencies with leading positions across 11 other federal and 20 provincial constituencies, so far.

Whereas, the ruling Nepali Congress has so far won 15 federal constituencies continuing the lead in another seven constituencies.

Meanwhile, the Madhes-based alliance registered 11 seats under the FPTP system.

According to the Election Commission, the FPTP electoral process saw election of 98 out of the total 1944 contestants.

74 of 165 parliamentary constituencies and 161 of 333 assembly constituencies have been covered with the FPTP results on December 10, 2017, informed EC.

New Laws for First Assembly Session

Meanwhile, EC has called for framing of new laws for the formation of the National Assembly.

“We are not able to begin the process of electing National Assembly members without laws governing elections of NA members. We want new laws to be framed as soon as possible,” EC Spokesperson Navaraj Dhakal said on December 10, 2017.

Article 93 of the Nepali Constitution requires the first meeting of the Parliament and the National Assembly within 30 days of the announcement of parliamentary poll results.

Meanwhile, Bheshraj Adhikari, Personal Secretary of President Bidhya Devi Bhandari informed that “The National Assembly Election Ordinance is being considered by the President. She will take a call on this as soon as possible.”

The National Assembly Members Election Bill is currently under scrutiny following a difference between the ruling Nepali Congress and the communist parties of CPN-UML and Maoist Centre on the contents of the bill.

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A total of 4,482 candidates are competing in this phase that is being held at 15,344 polling centers across 45 districts of the country.

The first phase, held on November 26, 2017, was held across 32 districts.

While the first round saw around 65 percent voter participation, the Nepal Election Commission (EC) expects the second phase polls to register more than 70 percent turnout with over 12.2 million voters exercising their vote.

The completion of this First-Past-The-Post (FPTP) election will result in formation of Federal Parliament at the Center and Provincial Assemblies across seven provinces of the country as planned in the new constitution in 2015.

The counting process will also begin the same day in the evening.

A Worth-waiting Election

The world governments, especially the bordering nations, are eagerly watching this landmark election of Nepal.

“I think the party I feel like voting [for] is popular because it strongly claims Nepal as a nation that is capable of bringing those golden days of Nepal back, where Nepal stood economically, socially and politically strong without aid dependency,” says Lawyer Jyoti Singh Bhandari.

“The Election Commission calls on all eligible voters to take part in the elections to convey a strong message to those who are against the implementation of the constitution as well as political stability in the country,” reads a statement by the Chief Election Commissioner (CEC) Ayodhee Prasad Yadav.

While Nepal has saw a governmental transition 26 times in the past 28 years, many hope this election would end long-standing political turmoil and open ways for new Nepali constitution, while also bringing in needed development across the country.

The post Nepal General Election 2017: Final Phase of Landmark Polls Across 45 Districts appeared first on Nepali Sansar.

While the three-tier local body polls were held on May 14, June 28 and September 19 of the current year, the most-awaited general elections for electing members for the provincial and parliamentary seats are currently underway in two phases (November 26 and December 7, 2017).

These two elections are important for Nepal for two reasons: One being the socio-political transformation that the Nepali citizens have been waiting for since around two decades and the other being the country witnessing these many number of elections in a single year for the first time in its history.

Local Body Polls

Nepal’s local body polls 2017 drew a huge response from the governments across the world, such as Japan, US, India, among others, which acclaimed that as Nepal’s major step towards its long-awaited development process.

“This is a significant progress towards the implementation of the constitution that was promulgated in 2015,” said the Government of Japan.

“Most importantly, Nepal held the first local elections in 20 years – a significant milestone for your democratic government,” stated the US President Donald Trump.

Upon the completion of local body elections, the United Nations had also hailed Nepal for its efforts towards institutionalizing democratic process through local body polls.

The local body election that concluded with the final phase on September 19, 2017 left its mark registering a record voter turnout.

Provincial and Parliamentary Polls

The intense election heat that began with the local body polls at the start of the Nepal new year 2074 in May continues till date currently in the form of the country’s general provincial and parliamentary polls that are underway.

This legislative election, also termed as the general election, began with the first phase polls that was conducted on November 26, 2017 across 37 constituencies of the House of Representatives and 74 provincial assembly constituencies.

The final phase is slated for December 7, 2017 and will cover 45 districts of the Tarai and hill areas for electing a total of 128 seats for the House of Representatives and 256 provincial assembly seats.

Nepal legislative election 2017 is being seen as a game-changer for Nepal as the country is most likely to witness an end to its long political and social turmoil along with the formation of new constitution.

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