Nepal's ruling alliance wins majority of seats in provincial assembly polls

Nepal's ruling alliance has won a majority of seats in four of the seven provinces, as the Election Commission announced the results for the provincial Assembly polls.

The results of the provincial Assembly polls were announced on Wednesday evening, Xinhua news agency reported.

No single party has commanded a majority in all the seven provincial assemblies, as is the case for the House of Representatives of the parliament.

The four ruling parties - the Nepali Congress, the Communist Party of Nepal (Maoist Center), the Communist Party of Nepal (Unified Socialist) and the Loktantrik Samajbadi Party -- are in the majority in the provinces of Bagmati, Gandaki, Karnali and Sudurpaschim, along with the Rastriya Janamorcha, which formed an electoral alliance with the ruling parties in the general election.

The main opposition alliance, led by the Communist Party of Nepal (Unified Marxist Leninist) (CPN-UML), has failed to command a majority in any provincial assembly.

As shown by the election results, the Nepali Congress has bagged 176 seats in the seven provincial assemblies, while the CPN-UML comes second with 161 seats. The two parties have also emerged as the first and second largest in the lower house.

The Nepalis went to the polls on November 20 to select 275 representatives to the House of Representatives and 550 members to the seven provincial assemblies.

The ruling alliance has secured 136 seats in the lower house, two seats shy of a majority needed to form a new government on its own, and the major parties have been discussing the formation of a new federal government.

--IANS

int/khz/