Only six political parties appear set to gain national party status from the House of Representatives election held on March 5, as vote counting nears completion. Out of the 65 parties that took part in the election, only these six have met the legal requirements to qualify as national parties.
According to Section 52 of the Political Parties Act, 2017, a party must win at least one seat under the first-past-the-post (FPTP) system and secure at least 3 percent of the total valid votes under the proportional representation system to be recognized as a national party. Based on the ongoing vote count, the Rashtriya Swatantra Party (RSP), Nepali Congress, CPN (UML), Nepali Communist Party, Shram Sanskriti Party, and Rastriya Prajatantra Party (RPP) appear to meet these criteria.
RSP, which has won 125 seats under the FPTP system, is also leading in the PR vote count. Nepali Congress is in second place in PR votes, followed by CPN (UML) in third. The Nepali Communist Party, Shram Sanskriti Party, and RPP occupy the fourth, fifth, and sixth positions, respectively, all crossing the 3 percent PR threshold.
Other participating parties have neither secured a seat under the FPTP system nor appear likely to cross the PR vote threshold. As a result, all parties entering Parliament this time will hold national party status. In previous elections, some parties had entered Parliament as general (non-national) parties.
Among the total number of 275 House of Representatives members, 165 members are elected through the FPTP system and 110 through proportional representation. Only parties that secure at least 3 percent of the total valid PR votes are eligible to have candidates elected under the PR system, meaning votes cast for parties below the threshold are not subject to be included in seat allocation.
The country first implemented the current PR system in the 2017 elections following the adoption of the new Constitution and federal structure. Five parties gained national status in the 2017 election, while the number rose to seven in 2022. In both previous elections, CPN (UML) secured the highest number of PR votes, but in the current election it stands in third place.
