KATHMANDU, Oct 26: The term of 20 members of the National Assembly (NA) who will complete their four-year term in the upper house of the federal parliament, is coming to an end. The Election Commission (EC) has suggested the government hold the election for the vacant posts in the third week of January.

The National Assembly has a total 59 members. The term of office of a member of the National Assembly is 6 years. There is a constitutional provision that the term of one-third of the members of the National Assembly expires every two years. When the term of office of the members was maintained for the first time after the implementation of the constitution, the term of office for the one-third members was fixed for two years, another one-third members for four years and for the remaining one-third members for six years.

The EC has started preparations for the election as the task of bringing in new members has to be completed by March 5 after the four-year term of the parliamentarians is over.

In a meeting with Prime Minister Sher Bahadur Deuba on Monday, the EC requested the government to start preparations for the election. According to Article 86 (3) of the Constitution and Rule 208 of the Rules of Procedure of the National Assembly, 2007, elections are being held for 20 new members.

According to the EC, Dirghanarayan Pandey was elected in place of Chandra Bahadur Khadka in the by-election held on May 29 and his term will be extended till March 4. The positions of lawmakers that will fall vacant include seven of the CPN-UML, three of Nepali Congress, five of CPN (Maoist Center) and four of CPN (Unified Socialist) party.

 
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