Student unions agree on holding long overdue election

All the student unions have agreed to hold their long overdue election. The proposed date for election is on March 12 next year.

In a discussion organized by the oldest university in the country-Tribhuvan University (TU)- here on Monday, the leaders of 20 student unions have agreed to hold the election on the stipulated time.

The election of student unions in TU ought to be held biannually but the election has not been held regularly since 2009 BS.

The last student union election was held on March 28, 2017. Among the 62 constituent campuses across the country, election was held in only nine colleges in the Kathmandu Valley including Ratna Rajya Laxmi College and Public Administration College among others while the election was held in only 17 colleges outside the Valley.

Election was long overdue in 13 campuses in the Valley and 23 outside.

The TU has 62 constituent campuses and 1,040 affiliated campuses in different disciplines.

Director of the TU Student Welfare and Sports Directorate, Pashupati Adhikari, shared that the election date would be decided very soon since all student unions leaders agreed to hold a long overdue election in today's discussion.

According to him, the meeting of the Students Welfare Council will be summoned soon and the proposed election date will be sent to TU Executive Council.

Sunita Baral, President of the All Nepal National Free Students Union (ANNFSU), student wing of CPN (UML), said that since all the student unions agreed on holding elections, we urged the TU to determine the election date at the earliest.

Similarly, Pancha Singh, President of the All Nepal National Independent Students' Union (Revolutionary), student wing of CPN (Maoist Centre), informed that while the TU had proposed March 12 for the election, their student union was in favor of holding an election either on February 26 or March 28.

"As we have pitched our choice for the election date, the TU now has the choice to decide on the most appropriate date for the election," said Singh.

The age limit for candidates to contest in student unions' election is 28 years and a mixed electoral system is implemented in the election.