Top EC officials including Chief Election Commissioner Neel Kantha Uprety and Commissioners Dolakh Bahadur Gurung, Ayodhi Prasad Yadav, Rambhakta PB Thakur and Ila Sharma on Thursday asked members of the taskforce which was entrusted with the responsibility for drafting an ordinance on removing constitutional difficulties, about the intention and spirit behind the 25-point ordinance. [break]
“We held discussions with the core team as it is necessary to amend all the election-related acts,” said Uprety.
According to EC officials, the 25-point ordinance on removing constitutional difficulties has not yet cleared all the legal hurdles.
“The 25-point ordinance has only amended the Interim Constitution but not the election-related acts. And these election-related laws must be amended in order to pave the way for elections,” an EC official told Republica on condition of anonymity.
The constitutional body has stated that the Election of Members of Constituent Assembly Act, 2064 and the Electoral Rolls Act, 2064, among other election related acts, need to be amended.
EC officials have said that point number 12 of the 25-point ordinance on removing constitutional difficulties is ambiguous as it states that the electoral rolls will be updated as per the voter list prepared for the erstwhile CA polls and Clause 11 of the Electoral Rolls Act, 2064, which does not compulsorily require citizenship certificates.
“The old electoral rolls are no longer relevant as the EC has been preparing a voter list with photos and biometrics, and Clause 11 of the Electoral Rolls Act, 2064 is also defunct. So, we need clarity on these issues,” added the EC officials.
CPN-UML leader and advocate Agni Kharel, who was present at the meeting, said that they would hold further discussions on Friday. “We decided to hold further discussions on a draft amendment of the necessary election-related acts tomorrow (Friday),” Kharel told media persons after the meeting.
Asked if CA polls could be conducted by June, NC leader Minendra Rijal, who was present at the meeting, said, “We all wish to hold the polls by June 21 but the practical difficulties are not hidden from anyone.”
At a time when some fringe political parties are obstructing the ongoing voter registration, Secretary at the Home Ministry Navin Ghimire, who held a meeting with the EC commissioners, said his ministry has been providing necessary security to EC officials deployed for the purpose.
He also informed that the Home Ministry will soon deploy mobile teams to distribute citizenship certificates, which are essential for the voter registration.
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