85 Candidates Withdraw from PR Closed Lists Ahead of HoR Polls

Kathmandu, Jan 13: A total of 85 candidates from various political parties have withdrawn their names from the proportional representation (PR) closed lists ahead of the upcoming House of Representatives (HoR) elections.

The Election Commission (EC) confirmed that the withdrawals, submitted by the deadline on Monday, included 21 candidates from the Janata Samajwadi Party and 20 from the Janamat Party. Candidates from CPN (UML), Nepali Communist Party, Pragatisheel Loktantrik Party, and Rastriya Prajatantra Party also withdrew.

The EC noted that some withdrawals by Janata Samajwadi Party and Loktantrik Samajwadi Party were made to reorganize their lists following the two parties’ merger. Minor changes in party lists may still occur before the final announcement.

The EC will publish the closed lists on January 18 for any protests or claims, with investigations to follow. The final lists are scheduled for release on February 3.

Ahead of the March 5 HoR elections, 64 political parties had submitted closed lists, with 54 using their own election symbols and 10 adopting a common symbol. Of the total 275 seats, 110 MPs will be elected through the PR system, while 165 will be chosen via the first-past-the-post system.

Earlier, 93 political parties had applied to field candidates under the PR system, and the EC had allowed parties to make corrections to their lists between January 5–11 following an initial review on January 4.