EC proposes barring defeated candidate from contesting election in another tier for 5 years

Published On: July 3, 2023 09:30 PM NPT By: Republica | @RepublicaNepal

KATHMANDU, July 3: The Election Commission has proposed to make a legal arrangement to bar a person who is defeated in one level of election from contesting in another level for five years.

A meeting of the office bearers of the Election Commission on Monday passed the draft of the bill to amend the laws related to elections, in which it is stated that a person who has been defeated in the federal, provincial or local elections cannot be a candidate at any level except for the by-election of the same constituency or level.

Similarly, the Election Commission has decided that there should be a legal arrangement for people to get elected as members of parliament (MPs) through the proportional representation (PR) system not more than twice.

The EC proposed that a person who has been elected as a member of parliament twice through the PR system cannot be a candidate again under the same system. Currently there are no such provisions issued by EC.

Similarly, the Election Commission (EC) has decided to make a legal provision that binds the parties to field at least 33 percent women candidates for direct elections.

The meeting held on Monday passed the draft bill which proposes that at least 33 percent of female candidates should be nominated by political parties under the First-Post-The-Past (FPTP) electoral system.

The EC has also decided that women candidates should be mandatorily nominated for the posts of either the chairperson or the vice-chair and chief or deputy chief of the local level.

The Election Commission has also proposed that the date of the election should be determined by the law.

According to Chief Election Commissioner Dinesh Thapaliya, the EC has decided that the date of the election and the period of election campaign should be specified in the bill.

The commission has also decided to collect the voters’ list of Nepalis living abroad and make arrangements to allow them to vote for the proportional representation in the House of Representatives election from abroad with the help of diplomatic missions.

The commission has also decided to allocate space for no vote in the ballot paper and prepare separate ballot papers for the mayor and deputy mayor and ward chairperson and members at the local level.