“After consultation with meteorologists and other studies, we at the commission have concluded that November 14 and 15 would be suitable for holding polls,” Uprety said at an interaction organized by Ganeshman Singh Study Academy held in Kathmandu on Thursday. He said even a delay of a few days would be unfavorable for the polls as some districts in the Himalayan region would see heavy snowfall by the third week of November. [break]
He also urged leaders from the major political parties, who were present at the gathering, to help the government finalize the ordinance on election laws and to fix the poll date. The commission drafted the ordinance to update election laws over a month ago but the government has failed to forward it to the president for approval as the major political parties remain sharply divided over some of the proposed provisions.
“After completing other works, we at the election commission are desperately waiting for approval of the election ordinance and announcement of poll date,” said Uprety.
During the interaction, leaders from the major political parties maintained that the only option available to political forces and the civil society was to support the present government hold elections while participants from other sectors said that they were not optimistic about the current government holding election.
“As things stand, we have no option other than making elections possible,” said Nepali Congress Vice-president Ram Chandra Paudel.
Khimlal Devkota of UCPN (Maoist) and CPN-UML’s Bhim Rawal echoed him. Stating that people’s mandate to be expressed through votes is the right way to correct the derailed political course, Rawal urged the people to help the government and political parties make the coming election successful.
Former Chairman of CA’s Constitutional Committee, Nilambar Acharya, criticized the major parties for proposing a bigger CA. “The legislature should have around 200 to 225 members. The proposed 491-seat legislature is too large,” said Acharya.
At a time when major parties have been squabbling over the proposed threshold provision, Acharya said there should at least be a threshold of three percent for seats under proportional quota.
Constitutional lawyer Bhimarjun Acharya described the ongoing dispute among the major parties over the proposed threshold provision as “nonsense”. “Threshold is a must in a country where proportional representation electoral system is adopted,” he said.
Lawyer Bhimarjun Acharya, Professor Kapil Shrestha and political analyst Bishnu Sapkota, among other civil society members, participating in the interaction said that they were not optimistic about the present government holding elections.
Former Chief Election Commissioner Bhojraj Pokharel said that he wasn’t optimistic about the new CA producing a new constitution “because the same actors and tendencies that led the demise of previous CA continue to prevail.”
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