KATHMANDU, March 12: The Election Commission has fixed the maximum expenditure limit of Rs 750,000 for the candidates of Mayor and Deputy Mayor in the local level election to be held in the coming May. In a meeting with representatives of various political parties on Friday, the commission informed about the expenditure limits of the candidates in the local level elections.

The EC has set a maximum expenditure limit of Rs. 350,000 for the candidates for ward chairpersons and members of various wards under the metropolis. The candidates for mayor and deputy mayor of the sub-metropolis are allowed to spend a maximum of Rs 550,000 while the candidates for ward chairpersons and members of different wards are allowed to spend Rs 250,000.

Similarly, candidates for mayor and deputy mayor of the municipality are allowed to spend a maximum of Rs 450,000 and candidates for ward chairperson and members are allowed to spend only Rs 200,000. The EC will allow candidates for chairman or vice-chairman of rural municipalities to spend a maximum of Rs. 350,000 and ward chairperson and member candidates up to Rs. 150,000.

Meanwhile, the representatives from various political parties such as Nepali Congress, CPN-UML, CPN-Maoist and Democratic Socialist Party argued that the expenditure limit set by the commission for candidates was not practical. They also raised questions about the progress report of the commission, provisions of the code of conduct, election symbol and color of ballot papers, during the discussion. The smaller parties had also objected that their party's symbol was not on the ballot paper.

Chief Election Commissioner Dinesh Kumar Thapaliya said that the proposed election code of conduct with the provision of monitoring mechanism from the federal, province and districts has been sent to the Ministry of Law for approval. "The election code of conduct will be implemented without any hesitation," he said.

 
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