Left alliance sweeps polls to upper house

KATHMANDU: The leftist alliance in Nepal has swept the National Assembly elections by securing 40 of the 56 seats in the upper house of Parliament, according to results announced by the Election Commission on Thursday.

The election to the National Assembly was held on Wednesday, almost two months after the conclusion of polls to the House of Representatives and provincial assemblies.

The CPN-UML led by KP Sharma Oli, widely tipped to be the next premier, won 27 seats and its ally, the Cpn-maoist Center led by Pushpa Kamal Dahal “Prachanda” secured 13 seats.

The ruling Nepali Congress bagged just 12 seats, and the Federal Socialist Forum Nepal and Rastriya Janata Party Nepal won two seats each.

The conclusion of elections to the upper house of Parliament has paved the way for the formation of the new government. But completing all formalities related to the announcement of complete election results will take another 10 days, the poll panel said.

“After all elections results are out by the next weekend, the formation of the new government will begin,” law minister Yagya Bahadur Thapa said. As soon as President Bidhya Devi Bhandari authenticates the results of the polls, Prime Minister Sher Bahadur Deuab will put in his papers, paving the way for Oli to form the government, he said.

As CPN-UML does not have a majority in Parliament, it seeks support from the Cpn-maoist Centre to form the government.