"Small political parties are banned from contesting the proportional representation ballot; only big national parties can appear on PR lists."

This claim is false. Recent reporting on candidate registration for the March 5 election notes that 68 political parties are participating overall, with many fielding candidates in both first-past-the-post races and proportional representation lists. Nepal’s law applies the same registration requirements to all parties and sets a national vote threshold that must be crossed to gain PR seats, but it does not reserve the PR ballot for only a few ‘big’ parties. Smaller and regional parties remain free to submit closed lists as long as they fulfil the legal criteria. What distinguishes outcomes is voter support and the threshold, not a formal ban.