KATHMANDU: The ruling coalition has agreed to hold internal discussions within their respective parties for two days and then decide the seat allocation through a meeting of the task force and top leaders.
A meeting of the five-party ruling alliance held at the Prime Minister’s official residence in Baluwatar on Thursday agreed to hold internal discussions on seat-sharing.
According to a member of the task force, Nepali Congress (NC), which was claiming 100 seats, has maintained flexibility to reduce some seats.
NC, the major party in the five-party ruling coalition, has agreed to reduce the number of seats in the November 20 elections to the House of Representatives (HoR).
This means that out of the 165 seats, NC is leaving 89 seats for other partners in the alliance and has agreed on 86 seats for the party.
It’s been learned that NC President and Prime Minister Sher Bahadur Deuba has instructed party leaders in the task force to make an agreement accordingly.
An NC leader said that NC will initially claim 100 seats, and later “compromise” on 86 or 87 seats.
However, the Maoist Center, another ruling partner, is endeavoring to stop the NC in 80 seats.
Top leaders of the five-party ruling alliance on Thursday discussed seat-sharing among them.
Sources said that even though the Maoist Center has been insisting on 60 seats, it is likely that it will agree on 45-46 seats.
Likewise, the Unified Socialist, which has been claiming 40 seats, is likely to agree on 15 to 18 seats at the most.
However, the Unified Socialist leaders are taking a stand not to compromise below 20 seats.
Meanwhile, the Janata Samajbadi Party, another partner in the alliance, is claiming 12 seats, while Rastriya Janamorcha has been demanding at least 2 seats in the November 20 election to the HoR.
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