Coalition partners likely to form a new government in Gandaki Province

POKHARA, Nov 27: The election results obtained so far hints that the ruling coalition will gain a majority in Gandaki Province. 

Based on the seats won by the ruling coalition parties under the first-past-the-post electoral system and the proportional votes, it is likely that the coalition parties will have a majority in the Gandaki Provincial Assembly. There are 36 direct seats and 24 proportional representation seats in the 60-member Gandaki Provincial Assembly. The ruling coalition has won 21 seats through direct election while the opposition party CPN-UML has won just 12 seats. Similarly, an independent candidate has won one seat.

The Nepali Congress, the party which is heading the ruling alliance, had won only 15 seats under the FTPT and PR categories in Gandaki Province in the 2017 election. But this time, the NC has already won 16 seats under the FTPT category alone. The Nepali Congress has won two seats in Kaski, two in Gorkha, one in Manang, two in Lamjung, two in Tanahu, one in Nawalparasi, two in Mustang and four in Baglung.

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The CPN Maoist Center of the ruling coalition had won a total of 12 seats under FTPT and PR categories in the last election held five years ago, but this time it has won five seats under the FTPT category alone while Nepal Samajwadi Party has won one seat. Maoists have won two seats in Gorkha, two in Myagdi and one in Tanahu. 

Similarly, the CPN-UML, which had become the largest party after winning a total of 27 seats during the last election, has won just 12 seats this time. The UML has won four seats in Kaski, one in Tanahun, two in Syangja, three in Nawalparasi and two in Parbat. Independent candidate Rajiv Gurung has won a seat in Gandaki Provincial Assembly from Manang-2.

Counting of votes in both the constituencies of Syangja under FTPT electoral system is yet to be concluded. There, the UML has submitted an application to the Election Commission demanding re-voting while the Nepali Congress has urged the election body to resume vote count immediately. Due to this reason, the counting of votes has stalled in the constituencies. 

On the proportional representation category, the CPN-UML has received the most votes at 340,533, followed by Nepali Congress with 317,596 votes and CPN-Maoist Center with 115,366 votes, while the RPP has garnered 57,116 votes in the province.