Prime Minister Baburam Bhattarai met Uprety at his residence in Baluwatar on Saturday morning and discussed election related issues. Asked if the prime minister proposed him to the post of chief election commissioner, Uprety did not deny. “It is a matter of political consensus,” said Uprety.[break]
According to sources, major parties have reached consensus on Uprety´s appointment as the chief election commissioner and another former Acting Chief Commissioner Dolakh Bahadur Gurung and commissioner Dr Ayodhi Prasad Yadav as commissioners.
The Election Commission (EC), the constitutional body responsible for holding polls, has remained vacant after the resignation of former Chief Election commissioner Bhojraj Pokhrel and retirement of Uprety, Gurung, Yadav and Usha Nepal.
During the meeting with Uprety, Bhattarai discussed the challenges and possibility of holding election to the Constituent Assembly (CA) by May.
In response, Uprety said there were two major challenges. “First, EC must reach the villages in order to update the voters´ list for new polls and second, the constitutional body needs 30 to 40 days to publish ballot papers,” Uprety told the prime minister. He also maintained that forging consensus to create an environment for polls is the most important thing above all.
Uprety also suggested to Bhattarai that the election be conducted before the arrival of monsoon. “Fresh polls can be held within the second to third week of Jestha (within last week of May to first week of June),” he said.
Asked if there would be sufficient time to make preparations, Uprety maintained, “As it is a must to conduct polls, EC will have to work 18 hours instead of 12 hours to hold the polls in the stipulated time.”
Uprety stated that the constitutional body must get election related acts in place soon after the chief election commissioner and other commissioners are appointed.
Asked if number of election constituencies should be reviewed in accordance with the new census, Uprety said that the Interim Constitution would have to be amended to shorten the procedure for making such a review. “The number of election constituencies cannot be revived under the existing laws,” he added.
As per the Interim Constitution, the number of election constituencies should be reviewed before holding fresh polls. There government should form a committee to review the number of election constituencies in the accordance with the new census report. There were 240 election constituencies in the CA election held in 2008.
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