KATHMANDU, FEBRUARY 5

CPN-UML Vice-president Ishwar Pokharel has threatened to launch nationwide protest against the government if the local polls are not held on time.

UML's warning came days after Prime Minister Sher Bahadur Deuba told Election Commission office bearers that the local polls would be held in a single phase on May 18 as per the EC's advice.

However, the government has not announced the poll date yet.

On February 1, EC office bearers had told the PM that holding local polls before May 19 - when the tenure of the local governments ended - was the EC's constitutional and legal duty.

Pokharel said that the incumbent government, which had been 'installed by Judges' was scheming to delay the local polls.

Spokesperson for the Election Commission Sharligram Sharma Paudel told THT that the EC needed 120 days to prepare for the local polls, but since the government had not announced the local polls yet, the polls panel was ready to fulfil its task even if it did not have enough time for preparation.

The polls panel had started preparing the draft of multiple directives and procedures that it would need in the course of the election.

Paudel said that the EC had been doing some major work, which would help it hold local polls without any hitches.

The EC has already identified places for polling centres and polling booths. Paudel, however, said that major work such as procurement of election materials and equipment could start only after the government announced poll dates.

The EC will have to abide by procurement rules, which says that procurement should be done on the basis of competitive bidding. Some processes take 35 days to complete.

Paudel said that 850 returning officers should be trained and that can happen only after the government announces local polls.

A version of this article appears in the print on February 6, 2022, of The Himalayan Times.