Naya Shakti opposes EC’s decision over election symbols

Published On: March 30, 2017 05:09 PM NPT By: Ashok Dahal | @ashokpillar

KATHMANDU, March 30: Naya Shakti Party has expressed its dissatisfaction over the decision made by the Election Commission (EC) of not providing election symbols to the parties outside the parliament.

Speaking at the press meet organized in the capital on Thursday, the party strongly opposed the decision made by the EC.

“We will not take part in elections unless our seven-point conditions, which were mentioned in the parliament, are addressed”, said coordinator of the party Dr. Baburam Bhattarai.

The party has revealed the protest program against the decision of the EC. Party spokesperson Khimlal Devkota informed that the party will hold sit-in protest at EC’s head office as well district offices from April 2. Likewise Devkota informed that the party has formed the Election Mobilization Committee headed by party coordinator Dr. Bhattarai.

Recently, the EC has decided that political parties that do not have representation in parliament and independent candidates will have to contest the upcoming local-level elections with independent election symbols.
In the past, the political parties, irrespective of their presence in the parliament, were allowed to contest in elections with their party symbols.
Citing the legal provision adopted recently, the EC this time has made it clear that only 27 political parties represented in the parliament will get their party symbols for the elections.

As per the new rule, candidates of a same party not represented in the parliament will have to contest the elections with different symbols in different constituencies.
Even as the parties and independent candidates are yet to file their candidature, and the number of candidates is yet to be finalized, the EC has already started printing the ballot papers.

Dismayed, the parties that have not been given the symbols are protesting the EC's decision. Terming the EC's decision 'discriminatory', the parties have demanded they be allowed to use their preferred symbols as their election symbols.