Nepal, Dec. 31 -- Dozens of political parties, including many new ones, submitted their closed lists of Proportional Representation (PR) candidates for the House of Representatives (HoR) to the Election Commission on Monday, the final day for the submission of the lists. Even the CPN-UML-which has been reluctant to openly declare its participation in the elections, and has instead advocated for the reinstatement of the HoR-has submitted a list of 110 PR candidates. With this, all the political parties, including the mainstream ones, now appear invested in the March 5 elections.

The interim government has played a big role in bringing together the parties, old and new, and to forge broad political consensus for the elections. Prime Minist...