All-Party Meeting in Election Commission: Discussion on NA and Local Level Elections

KATHMANDU: JAN. 14 – On the call of the Election Commission, an all-party meeting is being held. The commission has scheduled an 11 a.m. meeting to discuss the forthcoming National Assembly and local elections.

According to Shaligram Sharma Poudel, the commission’s spokesperson, the meeting would address the approaching National Assembly election as well as the date of the local level election from the time of preparation. Representatives from the federal parliament, state legislatures, and local governments have been invited to the meeting.

Commission officials had met Prime Minister Sher Bahadur Deuba on Oct 25 and suggested that the municipal elections be held on the scheduled date. After meeting Prime Minister Deuba on Dec 24, the commission officials had proposed to hold municipal elections on April 27 and May 5.

But the government has not yet made that decision. As per the provisions of the Local Level Election Act 2073 BS, the term of office of the local level office bearers is coming to an end on May 19. Article 225 of the constitution states that elections should be held within six months of the end of the term of the local people’s representative, but according to Article 3 of the Local Level Election Act 2073, the election should be held two months before the end of the term.