As the Nepali Congress expedites inter-party negotiations for consolidating the “democratic” alliance in response to a coalition of three leftist parties, the Rastriya Prajatantra Party has demanded at least seven percent share in candidate nomination, equal to the ratio of votes it got in the second Constituent Assembly elections.

Discussions continue among the parties for the division of 165 seats in the federal parliament in the elections scheduled to be held on November 26 and December 7. The erstwhile RPP-Nepal led by Kamal Thapa had got 6.66 percent votes under proportional representation in the 2013 polls. 

This means the NC will have to reserve at least 13 seats for the party.

According to RPP General Secretary Buddhiman Tamang, talks are going on for both long-term and short-term alliances.

“There is no point in joining the coalition unless we get a share equal to our vote in the second CA,” Tamang said. The RPP-Nepal emerged as the fourth largest party with 25 seats won in proportional representation vote in the second CA even as the party got no seat in the first-past-the-post system. However, with the RPP-Prajatantrik parting ways, the new Rastriya Prajatantrik Party now has only 18 lawmakers.