The EC said voters must produce their citizenship certificates for voting. It is going to use EVMs in all the six constituencies. The government EVMs used for the first time in Kathmandu-1 alone in last year´s CA election.
Representatives from political parties had mixed opinion on the EC´s decision. Representatives from Chure Bhawar Rastriya Ekta Party and Sadbhabana Party, among others, present at a meeting with the EC on Monday said making citizenship certificate mandatory for voting could deprive some genuine voters from their right to vote.
They said many bona-fide Nepali nationals still do not possess citizenship certificates.
Several other leaders supported the EC decision and stressed effective implementation. Chief Election Commissioner Bhoj Raj Pokharel said the EC decided to adopt the system as demanded by all parties in the past. "There is no chance of revoking the decision," he said.
Sadbhabana objects to EC´s code of conduct
During Monday´s meeting, Mehboob Shah of Sadbhabana Party said the party has a strong reservation regarding the code of conduct recently introduced by the EC. The EC has prevented any incumbent minister and CA Chair and Vice-Chair from visiting the constituencies.
"We have not seen any such provision (in the case of ministers) anywhere in the world. Our party strongly objects to it," said Sah.
But, leaders from Communist Party of Nepal (Samyukta) and other political parties emphasized on the effective implementation of the provision.
By-elections are being held in Morang-5 and 7, Dhanusha-5, Kaski-1, Rolpa-2 and Kanchanpur-4 constituencies.
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