Indigenous leaders have urged the Election Commission (EC) to ensure proportional representation of all communities in the upcoming constituent assembly elections.

During an interaction with EC officials on Monday, the leaders of indigenous communities said that they would not accept mixed electoral system, spokesperson of the EC Laxman Bhattarai quoted the leaders as saying.

A team of indigenous leaders led by Pasang Sherpa, president of Nepal Federation of Indigenous Nationalities (NFIN) also suggested the EC to translate the materials prepared for the CA polls into different languages so that people from all linguistic communities could understand clearly about the importance of the constituent assembly.

In the past, the EC officials used to run voters’ education campaign with materials published only in Nepali language.

NFIN leaders stressed that there should be proportional representation of different communities based on their population in the constituent assembly. They also suggested that election should be made inclusive by ensuring representation from all regions, communities and class.

The EC also held discussion with Dalit leaders today.

The commission has been seeking suggestions from different communities. It has already held discussion with Madhesi and women leaders in an effort to make the election peaceful and fruitful.