The Election Commission (EC) of Nepal decided on Tuesday to register 17 more of the political parties that had applied for being registered at the EC for the upcoming municipal elections.

With this the total number of parties officially registered at the EC have reached 56.

The parties getting the official approval included Janata Dal ( Socialist Democratic), Nepal Dalit Laborers' Forum, Nepal Samata Party, and so on.

A total of 72 political parties had applied for registration at the EC to take part in the municipal elections scheduled for Feb. 8, 2006.

The EC has also approved 98 election symbols for the elections.

There are 58 municipalities in the country including four sub- metropolis and one metropolis.

Last municipal elections took place in 1997.

Source: Xinhua