KATHMANDU, Jan 25: Parliament is set to endorse two election related bills -- the Bill Designed to Amend and Integrate Laws Related to the Work, Duties and Responsibilities of the Election Commission-2016 and the Bill Designed to Amend and Integrate Laws Related to the Voters List-2017-- in its meeting scheduled for Wednesday.
The two bills were tabled by the Parliamentary State Affairs Committee Chairman Dil Bahadur Gharti during the parliamentary meeting on Tuesday. With the endorsement of these two bills, there are now three other bills that the parliament needs to endorse to hold local-level elections.
Stack of bills stalled in National Assembly
While tabling the bills, SAC chairman Gharti said the bills were revised after long discussions and then tabled in the House. He also argued that the endorsement of the bills will pave the way for holding the election as the government is currently working to hold the poll in near future.
On Monday, the SAC had endorsed the bills after making some changes.
Among other things, the bills give governent, instead of the Election Commission (EC), the authority to announce the date for election, and makes it mandatory for the political parties and election candidates to submit the expenditure details within six months of the election. Those failing to submit the expenditure details will be barred from taking part in the elections for six years, according to the revised bills.
The revised bills have also fixed the ceiling of election expenditure at Rs 500,000, stating that those who spend more than the ceiling will be penalized with a fine equivalent to the expenses incurred during the course of elections or of Rs 500,000.
