So who will be the lucky ones to get the remaining 48 seats in the interim parliament? The parties have each presented six names, representatives from their parties, to fill the seats but the decision is yet to be made.
On the night of 7 November, heated discussions took place between the United Left Front (ULF) and the UML. Arguing that the 48 seats were the direct result of Jana Andolan II, ULF's Chandradeb Joshi said the parties have to sit together and decide on distributing them equally amongst themselves. He accused the big parties of trying to keep the ULF away from the interim parliament. "You have already taken 205 seats, now you want the 48 seats as well?" Joshi asked.
To this the UML responded, "United Left Front is a small party so it is not fair for them to ask for equal share." Joshi shot back: "Have you ever stopped to think about our contribution during Jana Andolan II? A day before the king's coup, our party was the first to announce the possibility of regression." When the discussion started heating up, Joshi grew furious. He said, "And please don't even start with martyrs, has anybody counted how many people our party lost?" He added that their party was sincere in contributing during Jana Andolan II. "Had you asked us to bring one person, we would have brought hundreds. Do you remember how you promised to bring over a thousand people out on the streets but you brought just over a hundred?" Joshi asked. The ULF demands that they be given 25 percent seats in the interim parliament. When it looked like the catfight was not going to stop, Home Minister Krishna Prasad Sitaula gave up.
"All other clauses have been agreed upon, if the parties still cannot agree on the number of seats, I have nothing more to say," said Sitaula.
Eventually as the discussion was going nowhere, Joshi complained to Maoist Chairman Pushpa Kamal Dahal. Immediately, Dahal said that the 48 seats were to be distributed equally amongst the parties and everyone promptly agreed. Joshi and CP Mainali are now demanding that the promise be given to them in writing.
