Kathmandu: Programmes under the proportional representation (PR) electoral system for the House of Representatives (HoR) election are scheduled to start on December 6, as announced by the Election Commission (EC) on Sunday. The EC has established the Office of the Election Officer for the HoR PR election at its Kantipath-based office.
According to National News Agency Nepal, political parties intending to participate in the PR system must submit their applications from December 7 to 9, between 10:00 am and 4:00 pm. The final list of parties applying for the PR election will be released on December 10 during the same hours. Subsequent to the party applications, the submission of closed lists of proposed candidates is set for December 28 and 29, with the publication of the candidate lists slated for February 3, 2026.
The inauguration of the office was carried out by Officiating Chief Election Officer Ram Prasad Bhandari. EC Secretary Mahadev Pantha has been appointed as the Election Officer for the PR system, with Joint Secretary Yagya Prasad Bhattarai taking on the role of Assistant Election Officer. In total, 41 staff members have been assigned to manage the PR election.
On the occasion, Acting CEC Bhandari expressed optimism that all stakeholders would have confidence in the nomination process. He emphasized that representatives would be chosen based on ethnic, geographic, and gender categories using a formula-based method, with assistance from the National Statistics Office.
Per existing legislation, the 275 members of the House of Representatives will be elected through two systems: direct and proportional representation. Of these, 165 members will be directly elected, while the remaining 110 will be chosen via proportional representation. For the direct (first-past-the-post) system, the nomination filing at the respective election offices is scheduled for January 20.
Furthermore, Finance Minister Rameshore Prasad Khanal and Minister for Law Anil Kumar Sinha engaged in discussions with the Acting Chief Election Commissioner and other commissioners at the Election Commission on Sunday. These discussions focused on pre-election preparations and the essential support required from the government to ensure the election is conducted successfully.