After marathon meetings, the four parties in the ruling alliance finalised seat-sharing for the upcoming National Assembly election with the Nepali Congress bagging half of the total vacant seats, leaving fringe parties in the alliance disappointed.

As per the agreement, Congress, the largest partner in the Pushpa Kamal Dahal-led coalition government, will field its candidates in 10 of the 19 vacant seats. The CPN (Maoist Centre) has got six while the CPN (Unified Socialist) and the Janata Samajbadi Party have got two and one seats, respectively.

Terms of 20 members of the upper house including its chairperson, Ganesh Prasad Timilsina, expire on March 3. As one of them was nominated by the President on the government’s recommendation, the Election Commission is conducting elections for the remaining 19 seats on January 25. The major parties in the ruling alliance have a broader understanding to nominate a leader from the Rastriya Janamorcha for the seat, which will be filled through appointment by the President.

The Unified Socialist had registered its displeasure over the seat-sharing arrangement at the meeting, but it later agreed to accept the offer. “We had asked for at least three seats, but we got just two,” Jagannath Khatiwada, the party spokesman, told the Post. “We have decided to field our candidates in the two seats. The party leadership will pick the candidates.”

Janamat Party, Nagarik Unmukti Party and Loktantrik Samajbadi Party, who are in the Dahal government, too had demanded at least a seat each. However, the major parties in the alliance refused to heed their claim.

Abdul Khan, vice-chair of the Janamat Party, said the big parties in the alliance monopolised the seat-sharing process. “Being a national party in the ruling alliance, it was reasonable for us to demand at least one seat,” he told the Post. “However, the so-called big parties have completely ignored new parties like ours. We are disappointed with the decision.” Khan said the party’s meeting on Monday will decide its future course.

The Nagarik Unmukti Party is also dissatisfied. “We were assured one seat. We still believe our party is included in the seat-sharing deal,” Ranjeeta Shrestha Chaudhary, coordinator of the party and a minister in the Dahal Cabinet, told the Post.

Nominations for the January 25 election are scheduled for Monday. The Election Commission on Sunday published the voter list. An electoral college of provincial assembly members, chairpersons and vice-chairpersons of rural municipalities, and mayor and deputy mayors of municipalities, metropolis and sub-metropolis, votes to elect the members.

As many as 549 provincial assembly members and 1,498 chiefs and their deputies of the local units are eligible to vote in the upper house election. Their votes have a combined weightage of 57,559, according to Shaligram Sharma Poudel, spokesman at the commission. A vote of the provincial assembly member carries a weightage of 53, whereas it is 19 each for the chief and deputy chiefs of the local units.

Besides Chairman Timilsina, and Bimala Rai Poudyal, who was nominated by the President, seven lawmakers whose terms expire in March are from the CPN-UML. With 17 seats, the UML is currently the largest party in the assembly. Similarly, four of such lawmakers are from the Congress, three from the CPN (Maoist Centre), two from the CPN (Unified Socialist) and one from the Janata Samajbadi Party. Khim Lal Devkota, an independent lawmaker, is also on the list.

Among the total vacancies, four are from the Bagmati Province, three each from Gandaki, Karnali and Sudurpaschim provinces, and two each from Koshi, Madhesh and Lumbini. The upcoming elections will fill the vacant positions based on provincial clusters.

As the ruling alliance has a majority in all the provinces, it is a given that the common candidates of the ruling parties will win all the seats. If the ruling alliance bags all the seats, the UML will be limited to eight seats in the 59-member upper house.

Twelve of the 13 parties in the House of Representatives have registered for the election. The main opposition has decided to contest for all the 19 seats independently, on its own strength. The Rastriya Prajatantra Party, which was looking to form a pre-poll alliance with the ruling parties, has now decided to field its candidates in all the seats while keeping the door open for potential partnerships.

“We are still open for partnerships, be it with the ruling parties or with the opposition,” Mohan Shrestha, chief of the party’s publicity department, told the Post.

The commission has already set up poll offices in all the provinces. The candidates who file nominations on Monday will get election symbols on January 12. The candidates will have 10 days to campaign before the voting on January 25. Election results will be published the same day.