EC is committed to institutionalise electoral system achievements: CEC Thapaliya

KATHMANDU: Chief Election Commissioner Dinesh Kumar Thapaliya has said that the Election Commission is committed to further reforms building on the learning, experience and achievements from the recent elections.

He said in his statement to a reception the Election Commission (EC) organised here today on the successful completion of the election to the Member of House of Representatives and State Assembly.

CEC Thapaliya said the EC has adopted some novel good practices in course of conducting the elections. “In this election the Commission has tried to procedurally control and regulate the election publicity expenses by the political parties putting a certain cap on the expenditure by the public sector. All these practices and initiatives are for maintaining political good governance and the integrity of the elections,” he added.

According to him, the Commission is always active in establishing its principle that no election should be influenced by official post, money and enticement, rather it should be guided by ideology, principles, integrity and norms and values.

“In this connection, the EC shall continue efforts towards taking forward the process for the required improvements by removing the shortcomings, reviewing the election after their conclusion, taking feedback from stakeholders and adopting the good practices,” he said.

The Chief Election Commissioner shared that preparations have been made to present a bill related to election management and operation in the first session of the newly-elected House of Representatives. The draft of the bill would be prepared after identifying the areas of improvement in the election management and taking suggestions from all the stakeholders through consultation with them.

He expressed the conviction that this bill would be a milestone in the election management reform.

CEC Thapaliya cited various initiatives for improvement of the election environment and management undertaken by the Election Commission in the recently held election, such as formulation of a practical code of conduct, formation of a code of conduct monitoring committee at the central, district and local level for monitoring the election expenditure and electioneering and code of conduct for the self-regulation by the media and control and regulation of fake information, misinformation/disinformation and hate speech during the canvassing for the polls.

Around 41 thousand people’s representatives have been elected to the local bodies through the local elections held on May 13 and are fulfilling the responsibility of running the local governments.

Similarly, a total 825 members, including 275 House of Representatives members and 550 State Assembly members, have been elected through the election to the Member of House of Representatives and State Assembly held on Nov 20, and they have got the opportunity to participate in the governance system.

Elections to all the levels- local, provincial and federal- would be held for the second term after the promulgation of the Constitution of Nepal with the conclusion of the election to the post of President and the Vice President within March 14, 2023.

Forty-one percent women representation in the local level, 36 .36 percent in the State Assembly and 33.83 percent in the federal parliament has been maintained in line with the gender and inclusive provisions guaranteed by the constitutional and legal provisions through the election held this year for the three tiers of government.

CEC Thapaliya said the Election Commission is of the view of making the proportional inclusive representation provision further distinct, appropriate, convenient and predictable as the present number of inclusive and proportional representation was not adequate.