Election date to be fixed within Jan 21: Election Commission

The Election Commission has consulted with the political parties represented at the federal, state, and local levels on National Assembly elections, voter list compilation, and local elections.

The commission has called the representatives of the political parties to observe the election and asked for their views on the preparations for the National Assembly elections, voter registration special program, and local elections.

The Commission has informed the representatives of the political parties about the constitutional and legal provisions regarding local level elections, calculation of tenure of office bearers, arrangements for fixing the date of elections, preparation of the Commission for elections, and its implications in case of non-election.

The five-year term of the local level office bearers will end in May and at least 53 tasks are required to complete the local level election, so 120 days is required legally, the commission said.

The commission had drawn the attention of political parties and stakeholders as it would be difficult to hold the election from the technical, managerial, and practical point of view if the date of the election is not fixed within the third week of January.

In the all-party meeting held today, the representatives of the political parties said that the preparations for the election were relevant and suggested that the commission should lead the entire election process including addressing the demands of the citizens who want to be registered in the voters' roll.

He suggested the commission to hold local level elections as soon as possible, not to use the election as an excuse, to reconsider the 'threshold', and to make arrangements for foreign employment and migrant citizens to vote.

During the consultation, some political parties were represented at the federal, state, and local levels, but due to the threshold, the national party was not recognized.

He said that the preparations of the commission were in the right direction if the smaller parties did not get the election symbol during the consultation.

The commission was advised to focus on the use of electronic voting machines to make the upcoming elections economical, clean, and free as some of the aged citizens were deprived of voting due to the non-passage of the Citizenship Bill by the Federal Parliament.

Representatives of some political parties, however, suggested that it would be appropriate to hold three-tier elections at the same time to reconsider the current election system and reduce election expenses.

Chief Election Commissioner Dinesh Kumar Thapaliya informed that preparations are being made for the upcoming National Assembly election following all the health criteria.

He said, "Due to the positive response from all quarters, today's meeting has been called for consultation with the government before formally proposing local elections." The commission will consult the government in a few days.

Chief Election Commissioner Thapaliya said that due to the legal provisions related to the threshold, those who did not get national recognition could not be given the party's election symbol at the local level in the past.