The Communist Party of Nepal-Unified Marxist Leninist (CPN-UML) has officially registered for the upcoming House of Representative election.
KP Sharma Oli, outgoing Prime Minister and chairman of CPN-UML stated that the party will contest in both the National Assembly and HoR elections. Oli has expressed that if the election doesn’t happen as scheduled, the interim government will be held liable.
Niraj Acharya, Chief of the Election Department and Bhishma Adhikari, Office Secretary have submitted the party registration application to the Election Commission. Acharya further added that they are ready for elections whenever they are held, and that the party registration has been done under this provision.
With the registration deadline for the House of Representatives election approaching on 26 November, as of November 24, 64 parties had registered. UML has been registered as the 66th party.
However, CPN-UML has been involved in brewing tensions in recent weeks from the Simara protest to an attack on satirist and TikTok creator Arjun Khadka, online known as Arjun ARK. Last week, curfew was imposed in Nepal’s Bara district after clashes erupted between Gen Zs and party cadres. The CPN-UML has been vocal with organising protest programmes across the nation demanding reinstatement of the dissolved House of Representatives.
Likewise, on November 21, TikTok creator Arjun Khadka was reportedly beaten in Bhaktapur by a gang of 4 men who were identified as cadres of CPN-UML. Khadka who had posted a satirical skit garnered millions of views which caused the targeted attack on him and his mother.
The number of parties registered with the Election Commission has reached 135. Of these, the parties that register for election purposes will be eligible to participate in the election.
