With a fractured election mandate resulting in political instability from federal to provincial governments, there is growing sentiment in favour of amending the constitution to change the current electoral system.

Soon after the change in power-sharing at the centre, almost all provincial governments have faced the problem. The CPN (Maoist Centre) ditched its earlier coalition partner Nepali Congress on March 4 and stitched a new ruling coalition with the CPN-UML.

The electoral system is the reason behind the political instability, argue some political leaders. They also point to the need for constitutional amendment to address the issue. For instance, the mixed electoral system is often blamed for unstable governments.

“The electoral system we are practising has been giving us fractured mandates, resulting in no single party winning a majority in Parliament,” chief whip of the Congress Ramesh Lekhak told the Post. “Therefore, public sentiment is building in favour of amending the constitution to reform the electoral system.”

The UML chief whip, Mahesh Bartaula, also stands on the same ground as Lekhak on electoral reforms. But, Bartaula said, constitutional amendments to reform the electoral system would not happen immediately.

“Indeed, the mixed electoral system that we are practising is not yielding desired results. Instead, it is causing political instability,” the UML chief whip told the Post. “If needed, our party is open to discussing its remedy.”

For one, the parties whose political agendas do not align should not be allowed to form poll alliances, says Bartaula. “If we can control this practice of parties with differing ideologies forming alliances, this electoral system too can function well,” added Bartaula.

Though some leaders are in favour of immediate constitutional amendment in order to give the country a semblance of stability, a two-thirds majority in the lower house of parliament is needed to do so.

This means 182 seats in the 275-strong House. For that, Nepali Congress, the largest party in Parliament with 88 seats, and the UML, the second largest with 78 seats, need to come together. Even after that 16 more MPs' support is needed, but there will be a possibility of gaining that support if the two big parties make a joint effort, experts say.

“Constitutional amendment is necessary to address the political instability that we are facing today,” political analyst Arun Kumar Subedi told the Post. “If the Congress allies with political forces other than the UML, chances of a constitutional amendment will be slim. Therefore, if the political parties are considering changing the electoral system by amending the constitution, the Congress and the UML should come together.”

A question naturally arises: why should the Congress and the UML agree to power-sharing to amend the constitution and reform the electoral system, if it is a need of the day? It can also be done even if one among the two big parties sit in an oppositional bench.

But a close aide of Deuba, on condition of anonymity, claims that should the Congress and UML stand together for constitutional amendment it will not be only for electoral reform, they will also address other pressing issues of the country.

But Bartaula ruled out a power alliance with the Congress. “Reforming the election law might be one thing which will take its due course; it is not a matter of a day or two. However, our party is not considering a power equation with the Congress anytime soon,” Bartaula stressed.

At an event organised by the UML to mark the Diamond Jubilee of the formation of the Nepal Communist Party on Monday, Maoist chair Dahal and UML chief KP Sharma Oli stood together to strengthen the cooperation between the communist parties. Amid the rumoured possibility of a governing partnership between the Congress and the UML in the near future, the chairmen of two communist parties vowed to strengthen the ties between the two communist forces.

But the Congress leaders claim that the channel of discussion with the UML is open.

History suggests that the Congress and the UML have cooperated only in special cases. The two parties first cooperated in the Krishna Prasad Bhattarai-led government during the promulgation of the constitution of Nepal back in 1990. Similarly, for the second time in the 1996 election, the two parties cooperated in the government led by Girija Prasad Koirala, and in the 2015, the two parties shared power in the government led by Sushil Koirala that promulgated the constitution of Nepal through the second constituent assembly.

Congress president Sher Bahadur Deuba’s close aide NP Saud told the Post that the two major political parties in the nation only work together on exceptional conditions.

UML vice-chair Surendra Pandey, too, denied the possibility of forming an alliance with the Congress. “Congress General Secretary Gagan Thapa has been talking about cooperation between the two parties, but we have had no concrete discussion on the matter,” Pandey told the post. “Politics is a game of possibility and we cannot completely rule out the prospect of future cooperation.”

General Secretary of UML Shankar Pokharel, while addressing a press conference at the party headquarters Chyasal a few days ago, had said his party will be ready to work with the Congress if needed.

“Naturally, when there is a crisis in democracy and challenges in the stability, the UML will not hesitate to work together with the Congress,” he said.

But while addressing a national gathering of UML representatives on April 20, he said his party would like to continue the present coalition of the UML and the Maoists until the next election.

Following the election in November 2022, the government has been headed by the CPN (Maoist Centre), the third largest party in Parliament with 32 seats, after no single party won a majority. Its chair Pushpa Kamal Dahal formed the government on December 25 of that year with the support of the UML, the second largest party in Parliament, along with the newly emerged Rastriya Swatantra Party and other fringe outfits.

But in February 2023 Dahal ditched the UML within two months of government formation and rebuilt an alliance with the Congress. On March 4, Dahal rejoined the UML to form the government.

Since the first constituent assembly election held in 2008, Nepal has been practising First-Past-the-Post and Proportional Representation (PR) election, a mixed electoral system that gives no party a clear majority in Parliament, resulting in a coalition government.

One and a half years since the November 2022 federal and provincial elections, the federal and provincial governments have seen many ups and downs. The instability in central politics has made provincial governments unstable every time.

Political leaders are using provincial governments as a power-sharing platform. The change in the power equation at the centre results in an immediate change in the provincial governments. At least 18 governments have formed in the seven provinces since the election held in November 2022.

“Most of the time the provincial governments come into being due to the change in alliance at the centre,” UML deputy general secretary Prithvi Subba Gurung told the Post.

But Gurung does not see any fault in the election system, denying the possibility of amending the election law.

“Instability in provincial governments is not due to the failure of our election system or the provincial structures. It is a failure of our central-level leaders. Otherwise, they would not let developments at the centre affect the functioning of the provinces,” Gurung said.