2022 Nepalese local elections

2022 Nepalese local elections
← 2017 13 May 2022[1] 2027 →
6 Metropolitan Cities
11 Sub-Metropolitan Cities
276 Municipalities
460 Rural Municipalities
Turnout70.96% (Decrease 3.20pp)[2]
  First party Second party Third party
 
Leader Sher Bahadur Deuba KP Sharma Oli Pushpa Kamal Dahal
Party Congress CPN (UML) Maoist Centre
Leader since 7 March 2016 8 March 2021 8 March 2021
Heads 329 206 121
Heads +/– Increase 54 Decrease 65 Increase 15
Ward chairs 2,658 2,132 1,053
Ward chairs +/– Increase 284 Decrease 428 Decrease 49
Popular Vote 3,956,193 3,811,602 1,503,247
  Fourth party Fifth party Sixth party
 
Leader Upendra Yadav Madhav Kumar Nepal Mahantha Thakur
Party People's Socialist Party, Nepal (2020) Unified Socialist Loktantrik Samajwadi
Leader since May 2020 18 August 2021 18 August 2021
Heads 30 20 16
Heads +/– Decrease 13 Increase 1 Decrease 2
Ward chairs 295 190 103
Ward chairs +/– Increase 11 Increase 190 Decrease 92
Popular Vote 577,380 422,737 255,882
  Seventh party Eighth party Ninth party
 
Leader Rajendra Lingden Chitra Bahadur K.C. Ranjita Shrestha
Party RPP Janamorcha Nagrik Unmukti
Leader since 5 December 2021 26 May 2006 3 January 2022
Heads 4 4 4
Heads +/– Decrease 1 Increase 1 Increase 4
Ward chairs 62 26 14
Ward chairs +/– Increase 1 Decrease 7 Increase 14
Popular Vote 363,160 40,491 31,039

The 2022 Nepalese local elections were held on 13 May 2022 in 6 metropolitan cities, 11 sub-metropolitan cities, 276 municipalities and 460 rural municipalities.[3] These were the second set of local-level elections to be held since the promulgation of the new constitution in 2015.[4] From the local election result Nepali Congress has become the single largest party of Nepal followed by CPN (UML) and Maoist Centre.

Electoral system

Each local body has an elected head, a chair for rural municipalities and a mayor for municipalities. They also have a deputy head, a deputy chair for rural municipalities and a deputy mayor for municipalities. Local levels are further subdivided into wards which have a ward chairperson and four members out of which two must be female with one of them from the Dalit community.[5] The Chairperson/Mayor and a Deputy chairperson/Deputy Mayor are chosen by voters of the entire local level while Ward Chairperson and Ward Members are chosen by voters of the concerned ward. A single ballot is used for voting and First past the post electoral system is used to select the winner.

Local Level Type Choice
Metropolitan City Mayor, Deputy Mayor, Ward Chairperson, 4 Ward members per ward
Sub-Metropolitan City Mayor, Deputy Mayor, Ward Chairperson, 4 Ward members per ward
Municipality Mayor, Deputy Mayor, Ward Chairperson, 4 Ward members per ward
Rural Municipality Chairperson, deputy chairperson, Ward Chairperson, 4 Ward members per ward

Qualification for candidates

According to Part 17 of the Constitution, a person who meets the following criteria is qualified to become a candidate for various elected offices of the local level:[6]

  • citizen of Nepal,
  • completed the age of twenty one years,
  • registered voters of concerned local level,[a] and
  • not being disqualified by any Federal law,
Date Pollster Party Mayor and Chairperson Deputy mayor and Deputy chairperson Ward chairman Increase or Decrease
10 May 2022 Setopati[7] Congress 295-317 288-309 2462-2607 Increase
UML 235-253 241-264 2085-2299 Decrease
Maoist Centre 76-105 72-99 970-1130 Increase
CPN (US) 35-43 39-47 290-370 Increase
PSP-N 24-32 23-29 200-245 Decrease
RPP 13-22 11-15 82-104 Increase
LSP-N 12-17 14-19 89-119 Decrease
Ind 6-9 1-5 92-118 Increase
RJM 2-4 2-3 31-46 Increase
NMKP 1-2 1-2 18-23 -/Increase
Janamat 2-5 1-3 14-20 Increase
PPP 0-3 0-2 12-21 Increase
PFP 0-2 0-1 9-16 Increase
Others 0-2 0-1 31-47 -
Total 753 753 6742

Exit poll

Mayor/Chairperson post

Date Pollster Party Province 1 Madhesh province Bagmati province Gandaki province Lumbini province Karnali province Sudurpaschim province Total
13 May 2022 ABC Television[8] Congress 60-70 45-50 40-44 46-50 38-42 20-23 42-47 292-326
UML 36-40 23-24 43-50 23-25 29-30 13-16 18-23 185-209
Maoist Centre 15-16 16-18 18-20 5-8 20-25 27-33 17-20 118-142
PSP-N 2-4 27-34 - 2-3 9-15 - 1-2 41-59
CPN (US) 1-2 2-4 2-3 - 1-2 5-7 2-4 13-23
LSP-N 1-2 8-12 - - 1-2 - 1-2 11-18
RJM - - - 2 3 - - 5
RPP 2-3 0-1 1-2 - 0-1 - 0-1 3-8
Others/Independent - 1-2 1-2 - 1-2 1-2 1-2 6-10
High competition 20 15 14 7 6 13 6 81
Total 137 136 119 85 109 78 88 753

Results

Overall Results

Parties Mayor/Chair Deputy mayor/chair Ward chair Ward members Total
Nepali Congress 329 300 2,668 10,476 13,773
CPN (Unified Marxist–Leninist) 206 241 2,137 9,345 11,929
CPN (Maoist Centre) 121 128 1,053 3,743 5,045
People's Socialist Party, Nepal 30 31 295 1,193 1,548
CPN (Unified Socialist) 20 23 190 754 987
Loktantrik Samajwadi Party, Nepal 16 12 103 450 581
Rastriya Prajatantra Party 4 4 62 235 305
Rastriya Janamorcha 4 3 26 126 159
Nagrik Unmukti Party 4 3 14 78 99
Janamat Party 2 1 19 74 96
Nepal Workers Peasants Party 1 1 19 64 85
People's Progressive Party 1 1 4 16 22
Bibeksheel Sajha Party 1 1 2 7 11
Terai Madhesh Loktantrik Party 1 0 3 8 12
Nepal Janata Party 0 0 2 8 10
Sanghiya Loktantrik Rastriya Manch 0 0 2 7 9
Nepali Congress (B.P.) 0 0 2 5 7
Nepal Loktantrik Party 0 0 1 6 7
Rastriya Janamukti Party 0 0 1 6 7
Bahujan Shakti Party 0 0 1 5 6
Bahujan Ekata Party Nepal 0 0 1 4 5
Nepal Susashan Party 0 0 1 3 4
CPN Maoist Socialist 0 0 0 2 2
Nepal Sadbhawana Party 0 0 0 1 1
Independents 13 4 137 232 385
Total 753 753 6,743 26,848 35,097
Source: Election Commission of Nepal[9][10]

By province

Province 1

Parties Mayor/Chairperson Deputy mayor/chairperson Ward chair Ward members Total
Nepali Congress 69 46 470 1,761 2,346
CPN (Unified Marxist–Leninist) 47 63 476 2,200 2,786
CPN (Maoist Centre) 12 19 127 401 559
CPN (Unified Socialist) 2 5 20 75 102
People's Socialist Party, Nepal 2 2 20 88 112
Rastriya Prajatantra Party 2 2 14 43 61
Sanghiya Loktantrik Rastriya Manch 0 0 2 7 9
Loktantrik Samajwadi Party, Nepal 0 0 1 4 5
Rastriya Janamukti Party 0 0 1 4 5
Independents 3 0 26 39 68
Total 137 137 1,157 4,622 6,053
Source: Election Commission of Nepal[11]

Madhesh Province

Party Mayor/Chairperson Deputy mayor/chairperson Ward chair Ward members Total
Nepali Congress 46 56 418 1,676 2,196
CPN (Unified Marxist–Leninist) 30 27 274 1,136 1,467
People's Socialist Party, Nepal 25 26 226 931 1,208
Loktantrik Samajwadi Party, Nepal 14 10 87 372 483
CPN (Maoist Centre) 9 9 139 523 680
CPN (Unified Socialist) 6 5 80 310 401
Janamat Party 2 1 13 46 62
Bibeksheel Sajha Party 1 1 2 7 11
Terai Madhesh Loktantrik Party 1 0 3 8 12
Rastriya Prajatantra Party 0 0 6 24 30
Bahujan Ekata Party Nepal 0 0 1 4 5
Nepal Loktantrik Party 0 0 1 4 5
Nepal Janata Party 0 0 1 4 5
Nepal Susashan Party 0 0 1 3 4
Bahujan Shakti Party 0 0 0 1 1
Nepal Sadbhwana Party 0 0 0 1 1
Independents 2 1 19 28 50
Total 136 136 1,271 5,078 6,621
Source: Election Commission of Nepal[12]

Bagmati Province

Parties Mayor/Chairperson Deputy mayor/chairperson Ward chair Ward members Total
Nepali Congress 58 50 488 1,914 2,510
CPN (Maoist Centre) 27 30 204 707 968
CPN (Unified Marxist–Leninist) 26 34 359 1,636 2,055
CPN (Unified Socialist) 5 4 25 83 117
Nepal Majdoor Kisan Party 1 1 12 40 54
Rastriya Prajatantra Party 1 0 14 47 62
People's Socialist Party, Nepal 0 0 1 2 3
Independents 1 0 18 18 37
Total 119 119 1,121 4,447 5,806
Source: Election Commission of Nepal[13]

Gandaki Province

Party Mayor/Chairperson Deputy mayor/chairperson Ward chair Ward members Total
Nepali Congress 36 31 351 1,306 1,724
CPN (Unified Marxist–Leninist) 35 33 284 1,279 1,631
CPN (Maoist Centre) 11 19 89 303 422
Rastriya Janamorcha 2 1 10 46 59
CPN (Unified Socialist) 1 0 3 16 20
People's Socialist Party, Nepal 0 0 3 12 15
Rastriya Prajatantra Party 0 0 1 10 11
Rastriya Janamukti Party 0 0 0 1 1
Independents 0 1 18 35 54
Total 85 85 759 3,008 3,937
Source: Election Commission of Nepal[14]

Lumbini Province

Parties Mayor/Chairperson Deputy mayor/chairperson Ward chair Ward members Total
Nepali Congress 48 44 375 1,516 1,983
CPN (Unified Marxist–Leninist) 27 40 314 1,315 1,696
CPN (Maoist Centre) 25 15 170 621 831
People's Socialist Party, Nepal 3 3 43 153 202
Rastriya Janamorcha 2 2 16 80 100
Loktantrik Samajwadi Party, Nepal 2 2 15 74 93
Rastriya Prajatantra Party 1 2 21 84 108
People's Progressive Party, Nepal 1 1 4 16 22
Janamat Party 0 0 6 28 34
CPN (Unified Socialist) 0 0 4 12 16
Bahujan Shakti Party 0 0 1 4 5
Nepal Janata Party 0 0 1 4 5
Rastriya Janamukti Party 0 0 0 1 1
Independents 0 0 13 24 37
Total 109 109 983 3,932 5,133
Source: Election Commission of Nepal[15]

Karnali Province

Party Mayor/Chairperson Deputy mayor/chairperson Ward chair Ward members Total
Nepali Congress 32 27 253 944 1,256
CPN (Maoist Centre) 23 25 223 855 1,126
CPN (Unified Marxist–Leninist) 15 20 184 818 1,037
CPN (Unified Socialist) 4 6 30 140 180
Nepal Majdoor Kisan Party 0 0 7 24 31
Rastriya Prajatantra Party 0 0 1 10 11
CPN Maoist Socialist 0 0 0 2 2
Independents 5 1 20 42 68
Total 79 79 718 2,835 3,711
Source: Election Commission of Nepal[16]

Sudurpaschim Province

Parties Mayor/Chairperson Deputy mayor/chairperson Ward chair Ward members Total
Nepali Congress 40 46 313 1,359 1,758
CPN (Unified Marxist–Leninist) 26 24 246 961 1,257
CPN (Maoist Centre) 14 11 101 333 459
Nagrik Unmukti Party 4 3 14 78 99
CPN (Unified Socialist) 2 3 28 118 151
Rastriya Prajatantra Party 0 0 5 17 22
People's Socialist Party, Nepal 0 0 2 7 9
Nepali Congress (B.P.) 0 0 2 5 7
Nepal Loktantrik Party 0 0 0 2 2
Independents 2 1 23 46 72
Total 88 88 734 2,926 3,836
Source: Election Commission of Nepal[17]

Major cities

Metropolitan cities

City District Province Outgoing mayor Elected mayor Details
Biratnagar Morang Province No. 1 Bheem Parajuli (Congress) Naagesh Koirala (Congress) Details
Birgunj Parsa Madhesh Vijaya Kumar Sarawagi (FSFN) Rajesh Man Singh (PSPN) Details
Lalitpur Lalitpur Bagmati Chiri Babu Maharjan (Congress) Chiri Babu Maharjan (Congress) Details
Bharatpur Chitwan Renu Dahal (Maoist Centre) Renu Dahal (Maoist Centre) Details
Kathmandu Kathmandu Bidya Sundar Shakya (UML) Balendra Shah (Independent) Details
Pokhara Kaski Gandaki Man Bahadur GC (UML) Dhanraj Acharya (Socialist) Details

Sub-metropolitan cities

City District Province Outgoing mayor Elected mayor Details
Dharan Sunsari Province No. 1 Tilak Rai (Congress) Harka Raj Rai (Independent) Details
Itahari Dwarika Lal Chaudhary (UML) Hem Karna Paudel (Congress) Details
Janakpur Dhanusha Madhesh Lal Kishor Sah (RJPN) Manoj Kumar Sah (Independent) Details
Kalaiya Bara Rajesh Raya Yadav (Congress) Binod Prasad Shah (UML) Details
Jitpursimara Krishna Prasad Paudel (UML) Rajan Paudel (Maoist Centre) Details
Hetauda Makwanpur Bagmati Hari Bahadur Mahat (UML) Mina Kumari Lama (Socialist) Details
Butwal Rupandehi Lumbini Shiva Raj Subedi (UML) Khel Raj Panday (Congress) Details
Tulsipur Dang Ghana Shyam Pandey (UML) Tika Ram Adhikari (UML) Details
Ghorahi Naru Lal Chaudhary (UML) Naru Lal Chaudhary (UML) Details
Nepalgunj Banke Dhawal Shamsher Rana (RPP) Prashant Bista (Congress) Details
Dhangadhi Kailali Sudurpashchim Nrip Bahadur Wad (Congress) Gopal Hamal (Independent) Details

Incidents

The Election Commission of Nepal sought clarification from CPN (Maoist Centre) chairman Pushpa Kamal Dahal and the wife of prime minister Sher Bahadur Deuba, Arzu Rana Deuba for violating the code of conduct during their election rally.[18]

The chairman of the Muslim Commission Samim Miya Ansari was caught in Janakpurdham during the silence period of election campaigning for trying to buy votes for independent candidate Janakiram Sah and Surendra Bhandari, the chair of the Janakpur committee of CPN (Unified Marxist–Leninist) was also arrested for trying to buy votes.[19] Ansari later accused UML leaders Raghubir Mahasheth and Julie Kumari Mahato of framing him.[20]

During election day, the commission fined former prime minister Baburam Bhattarai NPR 15,000 for breaking the code of conduct by tweeting a picture of his ballot paper.[21] In Vyas municipality in Tanahun, independent candidate, Deepak Raj Joshi, son of former Nepali Congress leader Govinda Raj Joshi, sustained injuries to the head after being beaten up by cadres of Nepali Congress.[22] After clashes broke out between cadres of People's Socialist Party, Nepali Congress and CPN (UML) in Yamunamai Rural Municipality in Rautahat, a former police constable ran away with the ballot box in the ensuing chaos and voting was suspended.[23] He was later arrested.[24]

According to the National Human Rights Commission voting was suspended in different parts of the country due to clashes between supporters of different political parties.[25] The Election Commission of Nepal reported that voting was suspended in 79 polling centres on May 13.[26]

After accusations of booth capturing by CPN (Unified Marxist–Leninist) in Budhiganga Rural Municipality in Bajura, Nepali Congress demanded that a re-election be held.[27] The Election Commission later agreed with the demands and a re-election was held on 7 July.[28][29]

See also

Notes

  1. ^ Candidates for ward chairperson and ward members must be registered in the concerned ward

References

  1. ^ "Local election on May 13". February 7, 2022. Retrieved February 10, 2022.
  2. ^ Ghimire, Binod. "Nepalis in general love to vote. Why is turnout low then? Disenchantment?". The Kathmandu Post. Retrieved 15 May 2022.
  3. ^ "Nepal Election Commission proposes local level polls in March next year". ANI News. Retrieved 2021-11-13.
  4. ^ "देउवाको रणनीति : स्थानीय तहभन्दा पहिले संसदको चुनाव". Online Khabar. Retrieved 2021-12-08.
  5. ^ "Elections in Nepal 2017 Local Elections Frequently Asked Questions" (PDF). International Foundation for Electoral Systems. Archived (PDF) from the original on 2017-07-12.
  6. ^ Part 17 Constitution of Nepal
  7. ^ Setopati, सेतोपाटी टिम. "काठमाडौंको भित्री नेवार बस्तीमा केशव स्थापित, सिर्जना सिंह र बालेन शाहमध्ये को बलियो?". Setopati. Retrieved 2022-05-10.
  8. ^ "स्थानीय तह निर्वाचनको एक्जीट पोल सार्वजनिक : काँग्रेस पहिलो, दोस्रो एमाले , तेस्रो माओवादी केन्द्र (यस्तो छ नतिजा)". ABC NEWS NEPAL | No.1 News channel of Nepal. 2022-05-13. Retrieved 2022-05-13.
  9. ^ "स्थानीय तह निर्वाचन इ-बुलेटिन •वर्ष १ • अंक ४३ • २०७९ जेठ १२ गते बिहिबार" (PDF). Election Commission of Nepal. 26 May 2022.
  10. ^ "निर्वाचन परिणाम तथा खर्च सार्वजनकीकरण" (PDF). Election Commission, Nepal. 26 July 2022. Retrieved 27 July 2022.
  11. ^ प्रदेश १ को परिणाम पुस्तक (PDF) (in Nepali). Election Commission (Nepal).
  12. ^ प्रदेश २ को परिणाम पुस्तक (PDF) (in Nepali). Election Commission (Nepal).
  13. ^ प्रदेश ३ को परिणाम पुस्तक (PDF) (in Nepali). Election Commission (Nepal).
  14. ^ प्रदेश ४ को परिणाम पुस्तक (PDF) (in Nepali). Election Commission (Nepal).
  15. ^ प्रदेश ५ को परिणाम पुस्तक (PDF) (in Nepali). Election Commission (Nepal).
  16. ^ प्रदेश ६ को परिणाम पुस्तक (PDF) (in Nepali). Election Commission (Nepal).
  17. ^ प्रदेश ७ को परिणाम पुस्तक (PDF) (in Nepali). Election Commission (Nepal).
  18. ^ "Election Commission seeks clarification from Dahal, Rana". kathmandupost.com. Retrieved 2022-05-26.
  19. ^ "पैसा बाँडेको आरोपमा एमाले जनकपुर अध्यक्ष सुरेन्द्र भण्डारी पक्राउ". ekantipur.com (in Nepali). Retrieved 2022-05-12.
  20. ^ "महासेठलाई कारबाही गर्न सरकार र ओलीसँग मुस्लिम आयोग अध्यक्षको माग". ekantipur.com (in Nepali). Retrieved 2022-05-12.
  21. ^ "Election Commission seeks clarification from Bhattarai". kathmandupost.com. Retrieved 2022-05-26.
  22. ^ Times, Nepali. "Nepalis vote enthusiastically in local elections". Retrieved 2022-05-26.
  23. ^ "Locals run away with ballot boxes in Rautahat". Khabarhub. Retrieved 2022-05-26.
  24. ^ Thakur, Madan. "Former police constable arrested for looting ballot box". My Republica. Retrieved 2022-05-26.
  25. ^ "Violent activities reported during elections". kathmandupost.com. Retrieved 2022-05-26.
  26. ^ "Election postponed in 79 polling centres so far: EC". GorakhaPatra. Retrieved 2022-05-26.
  27. ^ "Budhiganga Rural Municipality's local level election fate left in limbo amid controversy and indecision". thehimalayantimes.com. Retrieved 2022-05-26.
  28. ^ "EC directs Home Ministry to hold re-election at Budhiganga Municipality". Khabarhub. Retrieved 2022-05-26.
  29. ^ "Cancelled on May 13 due to rigging, voting underway in a Bajura unit - OnlineKhabar English News". 2022-07-07. Retrieved 2022-07-12.