KATHMANDU, April 17 - Despite their resounding victory under the first-past-the-post (FPTP) electoral system, the Communist Party of Nepal - Maoist is unlikely to achieve absolute majority in the 601-member Constituent Assembly.

If the current trend of votes they secured in the proportional system continues, the Maoists are not likely to get more than 240 seats counting FPTP and PR together.

As of Wednesday evening, under the direct election the Maoists

have secured 119 seats of total 224 seats counted so far.

In the remaining 16 constituencies they are likely to bag maximum of 10 seats. Because most of those 16 constituencies fall in Madhes region, where Madhesi parties are

faring much better than Maoists.

In the ongoing vote counts under the PR system, the Maoists have so far achieved 32.41 percent votes, which is around 109 seats of the total 335 seats allocated under the PR system.

In such condition, the Maoists may require at least 62 more seats to get absolute majority from the 601 seats, including 26 members to be appointed from different sectors and marginalized community by the government.

Similarly, the major ruling parties -- Nepali Congress and CPN-UML-- have secured 35 and 31 seats respectively under the FPTP electoral system. Whereas, each of them have secured 21.86 and 21.82 percent votes under the PR system that comes to around 73 seats for each party. It means the NC and UML may get around 212 seats altogether.