KATHMANDU, JUNE 21

Nepali Congress general secretaries Gagan Kumar Thapa and Bishwa Prakash Sharma today met Chief Election Commissioner Dinesh Kumar Thapaliya and urged him to ensure voting rights for Nepalis staying abroad.

Thapa told mediapersons that they urged the EC to list Nepali voters outside the country and guarantee their voting rights. The EC was also urged to make necessary laws to guarantee voting rights for migrant Nepalis.

The Supreme Court had directed the government and the EC to ensure voting rights for migrant Nepalis.

Sharma said his party had taken up the issue in the past as well. 'The prime minister is also positive about the need to ensure voting rights for migrant Nepalis.'

Thapa said a bill would soon be brought in the House to amend the Election Act.

Spokesperson for the Election Commission Shaligram Sharma Paudel said a new law had to be enacted first to start the process of ensuring voting rights for Nepalis staying abroad.

'It's a difficult process and I do not think that we will be able to ensure voting rights for migrant Nepalis in the upcoming parliamentary and provincial polls,' he added.

Paudel, however, said the EC would do everything in its power to ensure voting rights for migrant Nepalis.

A version of this article appears in the print on June 22, 2022, of The Himalayan Times.